My eating disorder began at a very young age. I started eating to survive the day and once I started I found that I couldn’t stop. I’ve been coming and going to program since the 80s and couldn’t find recovery until 2005. My motivation to return to this last time was ONLY to avoid the need to purchase a wheelchair to provide myself with mobility. I’m still a compulsive overeater but today I can walk and talk and breathe all at the same time!
I have been a grateful member of OA since June of 2007. I learned very quickly that I must surrender to a power greater than myself if I wanted to be relieved of my binging and purging. My ways of controlling and relieving the control with day-long binges were caught in a Groundhog Day cycle from a very young age day in and day out. OA~ felt like a free fall at times, but it was so often cushioned by the love, compassion, and support of fellows who had walked before me. I was given the gift of desperation and with that the gift of abstinence. That said, my life has had many challenges and grief for which I have been so grateful that I had could utilize the steps and the tools of the OA program, as well as the rich community of lifelong fellows. I am delighted to have the opportunity to share about how surrendering just one day at a time has strung together 13 1/2 years of abstinence from bulimia. I had tried everything before I tried this as a solution. Little did I know that OA had so much more to offer me than relief from my obsessions and compulsions. Today I experience the beautiful Promises of this program and a life beyond my wildest dreams. Hang in there. There is always hope. No matter what.
We have two fantastic speakers for this Sunday! One has been an active member in OA for 34 yrs. She has performed service at all levels. She continues to go to meetings. Today she lives the program. She still works with a sponsor. The second speaker has been in OA continuously for 32 years, although she suffered through a relapse in the middle years. She has done service at the intergroup level and enjoys sponsoring people through the steps. The format: the 1st hour the speakers will each tell their stories (30 mins each). Then we will get into how we live the program on all 3 levels. There will be a reading from Seeking the Spiritual Path for the 2nd hour, and the 3rd hour will be for questions and sharing.
The “Body Image, Relationships and Sexuality Workshop” is based on OA’s new book by the same title. Once we are abstinent and have worked the steps, these three topics come into sharper focus. Body Image: Many of us have struggled to accept and love our bodies. The good news is that we can indeed learn to stop verbal and physical self-abuse and become willing to love ourselves and our bodies in recovery. The happy result is freedom to move, live and grow! Relationships: Bill Wilson said that relationships have been the primary cause of our unhappiness and nothing could yield more satisfying results than to learn how to “live in the greatest peace, partnership and brotherhood with all men and women…” (AA 12& 12, page 77.) Thankfully this is very possible and leads to a life beyond our wildest dreams. Sexuality: Then, as we recover from body image and relationship issues, we delve further into one of the most intimate parts of our lives—our sexuality. Can we love ourselves, HP, and others fearlessly and express and receive that love while being true to ourselves? One definition of recovery is “learning how to be intimate with our HP, with ourselves and with others…how far are we willing to go when we choose recovery?” (Body Image, Relationships and Sexualtiy, page 47) Yes…the age of miracles is still with us and we can be rocketed into the 4th dimension of the spirit in all three of these areas!
The Big Book says we are not a glum lot. Therefore our speaker feels that if you are using a food plan given to you by a doctor or registered dietitian or nutritionist and if you are under the direction of a sponsor that It is completely possible to spend the holidays not suffering or struggling but being happy joyous and free and often serene. You may spend it with friends or family spend it on zoom or maybe on your own no matter what it can be just another abstinent day. Our speakers has been abstaining in OA for 44 years and maintains a 150 pound weight loss. She has served OA on the levels of inner group region and world service. She is excited to share that she was sponsored by the founder of OA and before that the woman responsible for much of the spiritual content in our bylaws and literature. She has gathered an exciting panel of extremely diverse abstaining members from southern California to share with us. Someone will share an authentic holiday experience. All seven will be available for questions time permitting. We will end with learning the amazing spiritual exercise of building Gods house. An experience not to be missed! Access files mentioned in this meeting here.
Something I had struggled with for a long time; and something that I watched my fellow OAers struggle with; or something we would simply abstain from; was the belief that something could and would, help us. It was eventually the one key element that changed the direction of my recovery and continues to light my way. I’m just a fellow OAer who has found recovery, found abstinence, and in my journey, I have found a higher power.
Am I willing to surrender one day at a time? Am I willing to live life on life’s terms even when NOTHING feels certain? How do I use the program, the tools and HP to get me through each day, meeting calamity with serenity? And if doing what always works isn’t working, can I be willing to do something different?
Letting go of our character is a spiritual process that leaves us open to receive the gifts and the message of this program. In this workshop, we will examine our defects of character-I call the defaults—that stand in the way of usefulness to HP and to ourselves. In a loving, safe and creative process, we will look at some of the blocks that keep us stuck and lovingly let them go when we are ready. Access the files mentioned in this meeting here.
Sometimes in the rooms of OA, we hear that there are no “musts” in the program of recovery – but the journey from active compulsive eating to abstinence and emotional sobriety takes a sustained and dedicated effort. Our workshop will examine whether OA’s 12-step recovery process can take place without having some clear guidelines that seem a lot like “musts.” Access files mentioned in this meeting here.
Adina and Sherry. Overeaters Anonymous describes itself as “a community of people who through shared experience strength and hope are recovering from unhealthy relationships with food and body image.” (oa.org) We focus on working the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA, in the belief that “once the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically.” (Alcoholics Anonymous page 64) We “give up old thought and behavior patterns that have failed us in the past, beginning with our attempts to control our eating and our weight.” (OA 12X12 page 7) Our primary purpose is to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors and to carry the message of recovery through the 12 Steps of OA to those who still suffer. (OA WSBC 2015) Yet all too often, we forget that “a healthy body weight” is an outside issue, best left to qualified professionals in the field of eating disorder treatment. We continue to shame and belittle ourselves and our bodies, sometimes using the term “Fat Serenity.” We forget that “In OA, we have no program of diets and exercise, no scales, no magic pills. What we do have to offer is far greater than any of these things – a Fellowship in which we find and share the healing power of love.” (Introduction to the 12 Steps, page 1) For some of us in the fellowship, when we reclaim the term “Fat Serenity” as a positive spiritual concept, we truly begin to heal our unhealthy relationships with food and body image and achieve recovery, defined by OA as “removing the need to engage in compulsive eating behaviors.”
Visual Meditation
Sandy S. and Susie H.
Allen and Beverly B.