Steps Traditions Principle Focus This morning, I picked up my OA Twelve and Twelve to read Tradition One because I needed help with a challenging situation at work. I know how well Tradition One works to keep meetings strong and united, and I needed help working as a team with a colleague. When a conflict or difference of opinion comes up, “Tradition One guides … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Open Commitment Without a commitment to unity, OA would be a diet and calories club. Everyone would follow the food plan of the most convincing or loudest member. There would be no world service, so groups would only be supported locally. Literature would not be developed and sourced from a central body, and groups would have no reason to meet and reach a … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Unity Statewide The US state of Florida celebrates Unity Day in a special way. For twenty-eight years, we have joined together to hold the annual Florida State Convention of Overeaters Anonymous (FSCOA). The planning committee consists of those intergroups in Florida that choose to participate, sharing in unity to carry the message of recovery in our state. As the FSCOA grew, we … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Just Taking My Turn I learned about service when I first came into OA long ago, working the Steps and using the Tools. I learned it was good for my recovery to get out of my head and do things for others—that one recovering compulsive eater reaching out to another is the foundation of OA. I learned that no CEO presides over us. Rather, … Read More
Recovery Relationships Team Effort I just returned from the last professional car race of the season. Gosh, no more racing for a while! I look forward to the weekends and car racing, but I will have to be content with American football until racing resumes. You’re probably thinking, “What’s the big deal about racing? A bunch of cars go fast around a track.” But … Read More
Diversity Recovery Around the World Focus on Unity I have been a member of Overeaters Anonymous since the early 1980s. I have attended OA meetings in the US states of Florida, South Carolina, Utah, and Maryland and in the country of Israel. There are many differences among these places—in cultures, geographies, and customs. But at every meeting, parts or all of the Steps were read and parts or … Read More
Fellowship Recovery Not Too Quick or Too Close I would like to address the Concept for substantial unanimity (part of the Twelfth Concept of OA Service), which reads, “The spiritual foundation for OA service ensures that . . . (d) all important decisions shall be reached by discussion, vote and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; . . .” (The Twelve Concepts of OA Service, p. 13). It is a … Read More
Diversity Recovery Around the World Birthday at Home Recently, I had the privilege of celebrating both my twentieth OA birthday and the twentieth birthday of my OA home group. I met OA for the first time at this group’s very first meeting. For this event, we asked our intergroup to invite other OA groups to join and celebrate our journey toward recovery. We had more than double our … Read More
Tools & Concepts Serenity on Aisle Nine On Thanksgiving Day, our area adds an extra meeting for people to attend. Emotions from anticipating family and food are high and that makes this holiday meeting so intimate and lifesaving. One year we couldn’t use any of our regular meeting places, so we decided to meet in the lounge and snack area of a local grocery store that was … Read More
Recovery Around the World Combined Strength I need meetings to be strong, vibrant places where a variety of voices express recovery through each person’s story of experience, strength, and hope. I grow concerned when I hear about OA meetings shrinking or closing entirely. Fewer meetings with fewer members means danger for me. I need support, and I need to be able to reach out to others. … Read More
