During the weekend of January 17th - 19th, 2014, the Region 1 Board was in Eugene, Oregon to speak at a Marathon hosted by the Emerald Empire Intergroup. As we always do at our in-person meetings (4 times a year) the Board members spent Friday evening together, checking in with our personal programs, setting our physical, emotional and spiritual goals for the year, goals for our position on the Board, goals for the Region and a theme for 2014. We loved the spirit of "We Are the Message" so we adopted it for 2014.
I first heard this early on in program...it was the first time I was clear enough to hear those words in "Our Invitation to You." I love that document....I love knowing that the message is not just about weight loss - I can go to a multitude of places for that (and I have...and it worked for awhile) but what I understood was the peace and happiness that was in the room and in the faces of those who had been in program for awhile. Not everyone, but enough that I decided OA was for me.
Now I know that being the message reminds me of the hope of our program that I can hang on to. It is the peace I too have found. It is the friendships I have been fortunate to develop, the gratitude I feel, and the happiness that is the biggest part of my life.
Our program tells us to look for someone who has what you want and ask how they are achieving it. That is being the message.
So what about our meetings that have slipped into the "same old same old" where our members use the time to talk about what is going wrong and forget about what has gone right. What about our meetings where no one is abstinent....
I have the responsibility to save my own life, to find hope, to connect with a HP, to maintain my abstinence, to serve, to sponsor. I cannot imagine my life without OA...my life is an absolute 180 from my lowest point. I never want to return to that sad, mad, crazy woman. My only solution is OA. So, I need to carry the message so OA will always be here for me.
We Are the Message!
I first heard this early on in program...it was the first time I was clear enough to hear those words in "Our Invitation to You." I love that document....I love knowing that the message is not just about weight loss - I can go to a multitude of places for that (and I have...and it worked for awhile) but what I understood was the peace and happiness that was in the room and in the faces of those who had been in program for awhile. Not everyone, but enough that I decided OA was for me.
Now I know that being the message reminds me of the hope of our program that I can hang on to. It is the peace I too have found. It is the friendships I have been fortunate to develop, the gratitude I feel, and the happiness that is the biggest part of my life.
Our program tells us to look for someone who has what you want and ask how they are achieving it. That is being the message.
So what about our meetings that have slipped into the "same old same old" where our members use the time to talk about what is going wrong and forget about what has gone right. What about our meetings where no one is abstinent....
I have the responsibility to save my own life, to find hope, to connect with a HP, to maintain my abstinence, to serve, to sponsor. I cannot imagine my life without OA...my life is an absolute 180 from my lowest point. I never want to return to that sad, mad, crazy woman. My only solution is OA. So, I need to carry the message so OA will always be here for me.
We Are the Message!
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