What OA Has Done for Me

One of my trigger foods was sugar, and on January 4, 2016, I surrendered all recreational sugar to my HP. I have remained abstinent. My attitude has changed. I have written my Fourth Step three times and worked my way through the Twelve Steps three times. I have released almost 100 pounds (45 kg), and my three-legged stool is stable and balanced. My life has changed, and I continue to grow physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This is what OA has done for me.

I entered the rooms via a face-to-face meeting that I immediately did not like from the moment I saw those people, strangers who had personal stories to tell. I didn’t understand why they were willing or wanted to share stories about their compulsions and how they got there. Even though their stories were just like mine, but somehow different, I left and was determined not to return. But I did return, and I kept coming back. I asked someone to sponsor me. That is how I came to OA.

My sponsor had me immediately begin working the Steps. I waltzed through Steps One, Two, and Three and surrendered my life to a Higher Power. I became honest with a weighed-and-measured food plan, sending it daily to my sponsor along with a follow up phone call to talk about what I had planned for the day and how the day before had gone. I attended meetings and provided service at them. I wrote daily at great length, reflecting on conversations with my sponsor, passages  in the literature, experiences at meetings, or the words of other devotional books. I made outreach calls by phone, text, or email, and I worked the program faithfully and hard. Today, I pray first thing in the morning to my HP, whom I call GOMU (god of my understanding), read my devotional books, and spend at least ten minutes in meditation with beautiful, calming music. I read, write, and share with my sponsor and my sponsees.

OA has done for me what I never could have done on my own. I am happier and more confident. I love myself and others. I am not perfect, and I have much work yet to do, but I am so much better in my thinking, my relationships, and my physical needs. Not only do I look different, I am different. I treat others with much more respect, patience, understanding, love, and hope. I make immediate amends if needed, and I am a better person because of it.

I have changed, and I am living a much fuller life because of OA. I love this program and each of you. Keep coming back! It works! OA has helped me be who I am today. Enjoy the miracles! Blessings!

— Mindy