“Newcomers are more likely to return if they see and hear recovery in action and if someone in the group gives them personal attention and encouragement.” OA Handbook for Members, Groups & Service Bodies p11 Had you heard of Zoom before the spring of 2020? I hadn’t. Those first virtual meetings felt so awkward. I […]
Yearly Archives: 2021
During the Pandemic I found a Quick and Easy Tenth Step Inventory: AEIOU and Always Y!
As a low bottom compulsive eater (that used to turn to all kinds of unhealthy binge foods to stuff my negative feelings until I became overstuffed, bulimic, and obese), one of the real gifts and surprising blessings that came into focus during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the widening availability of OA meetings and events, […]
Thanks to Step Two I Came to believe
Step Two: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. “Having reduced us to a state of absolute helplessness, you now declare that none but a Higher Power can remove our obsession. Some of us won’t believe in God, others can’t, and still others who do believe that God […]
A Searching and Fearless Step Four Moral Inventory
When we face the guilt that truthfully tells us, “You made a mistake,” we’re freed of the shame that falsely tells us, “You are a mistake.” OA Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, Second Edition, page 36 I don’t know about you, but when I was new, I didn’t have that much experience with being really […]
Tradition Two: One Ultimate Authority
Tradition Two: For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority–a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. I don’t know about you, but I just love running the show, being in charge, telling other people what to do. When […]
Abstinence
Tradition Three in Overeaters Anonymous tells us: The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively. When I attended my first few meetings, I heard people talking about abstinence and, in some cases, abstaining from certain foods and eating behaviors. I was appalled. I had spent a lifetime dieting and restricting as […]
Again
Alone in the dark How did I get here? Again I didn’t want to Yet here I am Again Every day I wake up I say “not tonight” Every night I’m here Again Self loathing Obese Isolated Body Aches Again Then I met you I act “as if” I write to you I hit my […]
Giggles and Grins
A man arrives at a bus stop, and while waiting, he notices two men working in the center divider of the road. He watches the first man dig a hole about three feet deep, then move down about 4 feet and digs another one. Meantime the second man fills the first hole up with the […]
All About Acceptance
Acceptance is the inner realization that all is well despite outward appearances. All problems are arguments with reality. Happiness doesn’t come from getting what I want – it comes from wanting what I already have. Serenity isn’t freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm. Acceptance is Not Arguing with Reality. Acceptance is […]
This Obsession
This obsession – always thinking, planning, wishing to be thin, beautiful. This obsession is the way I hate myself: the way I look, the way I am, who I am. When I attack my body, I attack my soul, my Inner Self. My soul fills me like water fills a sponge, Reaching everywhere, Even into […]
Tools of Recovery: Overview
In working Overeaters Anonymous’ Twelve-Step program of recovery from compulsive overeating, we have found that a number of tools are available to assist us. The Tools of Recovery, p1 When I showed up at my first meeting, I didn’t have any idea what to expect. It was the basement of a church, and the meeting […]
Admitting Powerlessness
Step One: We admitted we were powerless over food — that our lives had become unmanageable. Once we honestly examine our histories, we can deny it no longer: our eating and our attitudes toward food are not normal; we have this disease. Overeaters Anonymous Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, p3 I have heard people say […]