REGION ONE OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS
  • Home
  • Newcomers
  • Meetings During Covid-19
  • 2021 WSBC
  • Audio / Speakers
  • Board Blog
  • Board Calendar
  • Contact & Liaison List
  • Documents
  • Donations
  • Events
  • Intergroups
  • Intergroup Renewal
  • Journal Sales
  • Links
  • Newsletters & Publications
  • Recovery Resources
    • Project Teams Output
    • Speaker List
  • Sponsorship

MY SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

2/15/2021

6 Comments

 
Picture
My OA friend said, “I have an assignment from my sponsor.  Can you tell me about your Second Step experience?”  I didn’t have an immediate answer.
 
Later that week I was reading a wonderful story in the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th edition) titled “A Drunk, Like You.” On page 405 a spiritual awakening was discussed.  Aah!  My friend had been asking about my spiritual awakening!  In the story, the writer was disappointed that he hadn’t had a “more dramatic” spiritual awakening.
 
I was transported back to 1976, when I first entered the rooms of the 12 Steps at the tender age of 26. I had accompanied a friend who didn’t want to go alone.  I had been very depressed, but didn’t know that I was about to find the answer I needed. Walking into that room is something I’ll never forget.  It felt like walking into sunshine (and it was winter in Fairbanks, Alaska). I felt loved and accepted. And I kept coming back. That was my first spiritual awakening!
 
Jumping ahead to 1987. I was no longer a member of that first fellowship.  I was desperate to lose weight. I saw an ad for Overeaters Anonymous in the paper and wondered if it could be a Big Book fellowship. Their meeting was held fifteen minutes after I got off work and only three doors away, so I brought my Big Book and found that they were starting a Big Book study that night!  It was a renewal of my spiritual awakening.  Here was where I belonged!
 
Fast forward to 2009. We had moved and moved again. I had wandered away again. I had tried other methods of weight control.  Nothing worked. I got the bright idea of going to an Oregon OA retreat to get back on the wagon, but thought that afterward I wouldn’t have to attend meetings afterward—that I’d be able to do it by myself. But I discovered at the retreat that I love meetings!

Later that year we had to move again, back to my home town of Ketchikan to care for my mother.  I found an ad for OA in the paper, but when I went to the meeting no one else showed up.  I called the paper and was told the meeting wasn’t happening and they didn’t know how the ad had gotten back in the paper.  The time and place for a meeting were provided for me, and there were many weeks of just myself attending, but slowly a fellowship has grown around me.

I pray I have learned the lesson for good that this is where I belong and where I can stay spiritually awake, growing in recovery!
 
Lesley – Region One
 

PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE LAST NAMES IN BLOG POST COMMENTS

6 Comments

A LIST OF WORDS TO LIVE BY...

10/30/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
As I've trudged the Road of Happy Destiny, I've developed a list of words to live by. Through working the Twelve Steps, practicing these principles in all of my affairs, and giving away what was so freely given to me, I walk a spiritual path every day.
 
I work my program as if my life depends on it, because it does. This disease of mine, this addiction to self-loathing, almost killed me. It causes an obsession of the mind so strong that my symptoms took the form of self-starvation and purging everything I ate.

​The maintenance of a fit spiritual condition is the ONLY thing that worked for me. This list is the result of developing that fit spiritual condition, which I achieved through working all twelve Steps. It is evidence of the true miracle of this program. Before recovery, I was a frightened, wounded person who hid in plain sight. Now, I gladly follow the path of my Higher Power, who has led me to this marvelous way of life.
 
Do your work and you will find your list too. In the meantime, you can share mine with me.

  • Choose to be kind.
  • Stay open to all life has to offer.
  • Say yes to adventure.
  • Feel the fear and do it anyway. 
  • Always remember that you have something unique to offer the world. 
  • Believe you can make a difference and you will.
  • Live a life of integrity. 
  • Always speak your highest truth with love.
  • It works if you do the work.
  • Find joy in every day.
  • Keep coming back. 
 
Alice W. - Region One 

1 Comment

HOW THE SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE OF HONESTY WORKS FOR ME

7/18/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
In one of my meetings there is a woman who has been abstinent for over forty years. She often shares that “It is my job today to practice the Spiritual Principles of the OA program.”  
 
Step One – the Spiritual Principle is Honesty.  One of the definitions of honesty is "adherence to the facts" or "sincerity."    This seems like the perfect spiritual principle for Step One to me.   To truly understand that I am powerless over food and my life is unmanageable, I needed to be honest with myself about my life. 

To be honest, I do not think I really believed Step One when I arrived in OA.  I came to OA after being in another 12 Step program for almost a year.  I could understand and believe Step Two – Came to believe that a power greater than myself could restore me to sanity.   I had seen that step work for members of the other program.  So, when someone there mentioned OA to me in reference to my overeating, I was immediately interested in finding out more about the OA program. 
 
But I do not really think I took Step One for several years after I started coming to OA meetings.  I certainly did not get abstinent consistently until I had been in OA for about eight years. 

The bottom came after I had been living up near Mt. Hood, outside of Portland, Oregon, for about a year.  During the summer while I worked at a camp for handicapped children, I had been wonderfully abstinent.  It felt easy to be abstinent – I just ate the three meals per day they served in the dining hall, no sugar and no wheat and NO snacking. 

​Then, at the mid-summer OA retreat, I realized I really needed to be close to the OA program and to OA people to stay abstinent during the rest of the year.  I could NOT do this by myself; I was powerless over the food.  I decided I needed to move back to Portland, where there were more meetings and more OA people around me.  I could not do my life by myself.  I had to be honest with myself and with other people.  That is when my first abstinence started. 
 
Margie - Region 1

0 Comments

Survival

2/11/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Survival:  The state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances. An object or practice that has continued to exist from an earlier time. 

Wow! Does this ever hit home for me right now! I am sure you have heard the phrase "survival of the fittest"...I feel like some days I am barely surviving, and I certainly don't feel as though I am the fittest.  I am in one of the busiest seasons of my life and I think, I can't survive this. I need to just give up. Give into the thoughts that consume me to eat and just not care. I tell myself; I am tired, and my brain is on overload. You deserve to just "let go."

But then I stop and pause and look at where I was: dangerously close to 300 pounds. Unhappy, bitter, angry, lashing out at my family and anyone else that got in my path. Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and the list goes on.

I look at where I am today:  I am in recovery. Down over 80 pounds and no longer filled with anger and bitterness when things don't turn out the way I want them to. I have an understanding now that I am NOT alone. I am surrounded by people who know my pain and that also have recovery and they still have days that are hard.

I work on giving myself credit for what I have accomplished.  With my higher power and the 12 steps and the tools I can continue to be successful in this journey. I do my best. I do the next right thing and know that it truly is progress and not perfection.  I will pass through this season of being so overwhelmed with my life...and I am aiming to be able to look back at this season and say, "I survived, and I am healthier and better for it." It is so easy to get discouraged and just toss in the towel.

Be encouraged my fellow OA members.  You can survive don't give up. Call somebody, spend some time with your higher power focusing on what really matters, you and the fact that we can't do this on our own. And that's okay.

​Always remember:  You are not alone!


Laurie - Region 1

0 Comments

SANE EATING IN SOCIAL SITUATIONS

12/20/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
How do I keep my abstinence when everyone around me is eating so many things I’m “not supposed” to eat?  What about those food pushers?  “I made this just for you.  You have to try a little bit.” 
 
The Twelve Step program of Overeaters Anonymous tells me that my compulsion will be removed if I work the Steps and have a spiritual awakening which is sufficient to change me so that I no longer crave foods which are not good for me.  I have experienced this removal of the compulsion.  And the last several holiday seasons I have had no compulsions and no temptations.  Of course, over the years I have trained my family, so they don’t expect me to eat those things and they don’t push them on me.  I am grateful.
 
However, the first few holiday seasons I was in Overeaters Anonymous I was not free of the compulsion.  And sometimes it was very hard to stay out of the food.  I have found several things that work for me to help me keep my abstinence.  
 
First, I try to remember that my abstinence and my OA program are the things that help me have sanity and peace in my life.  I remind myself that really spending time with the people I love is much more important than the temporary high I get from the food.  I discovered that when I tell people I am allergic to certain foods, they want to know more about that and try to help by offering solutions to those things.  They keep asking questions and trying to talk me into things I know don’t work for me to eat.  I finally decided that simply saying one thing over and over works as well as anything.  I say “No, thank you” and indicate that I am full.  I can just keep saying “no thank you” over and over. 
 
Sometimes I just find some little kids and play with them; I can go for a walk and invite others to go; I can call someone (from the bathroom works well).  Sometimes I just pray or help with the dishes.  Another great trick is to help by passing out plates of the dessert--no one notices that I didn’t eat any when they see me with a plate of it in my hands. 
 
I read something this week that made lots of sense to me.  Someone shared that she tells people that she doesn’t eat foods that cause her to feel bad physically.  And she has found no one urging her to eat foods which make her feel sick.  (Those aren’t exactly the words she used but that was the idea). 
 
I need to remember how important my abstinence and sanity are to me every day one day at a time. 
​
Happy Holidays to all,
Margie - Region 1

1 Comment

MAGIC:  Me Accepting God's In Charge

9/9/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
I was thinking about the actions I need to take in this program to stay “on the beam.”  For me, my continued recovery is all about taking the next right step.  Not the next 10 steps, not the whole path.  Not the Google map with the highlighted route, just the next step.

I’m so aware of the lies I can tell myself about which step to take.  These non-truths affect the decisions that I make.  They affect my next right move.

If this program is all about action, what am I doing?  I mean, there is an entire chapter in the Big Book that says “Into Action.”  Not “Into Thinking about it.”  Not “Resting on my laurels because I’m doing pretty good right now.”

There is magic in taking action.  To me, that is a code word for:

       Me Accepting God’s In Charge!

And yet, my thoughts will go to the place of, “I want to do what I’ve been doing, why do I have to keep doing more?”

Well, one thought I’m having is that I have been given this gift of recovery, and it says on page 132 of the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous),”…we have been given the power to help others.”  Wow, what a super power that is!  I only get to have this power by continued work on the steps and taking the action as outlined in the Big Book.  This purpose, this amazing life that does not include binging and shame is a treasure that I want to share. Selfishly, I want to give it away so I can keep it.

Oh boy, I better get busy and take the next right step.  It’s so worth it!

Nadine D. - Region 1

1 Comment

STRESS...AND THE THREE A'S OF RECOVERY

8/24/2019

5 Comments

 
Picture
Relax.     Take it easy.     Don’t struggle.

Those are words I am trying to remember throughout the day. It is a reminder that God’s in charge, not me.

But, but…I do struggle! I get stressed! I have SO much to do! There’s no end to my list of responsibilities! 

Awareness—Oh look, my shoulders are up around my ears again. I notice I have knots in my belly.  In those moments, I take a deep breath.

​Acceptance—I remember that I am only human. I can’t rise above my humanness.  I am not God. I am not qualified to be God. I look at my past and see how far I’ve come in recovery. I take a deep breath.

Action—I breathe in deeply and consciously feel my body. I cajole the tight muscles to relax. I take a minute and look out the window. I remind myself that God’s in charge. I may call an OA fellow or read literature.  I may listen to a podcast of an OA speaker or I may call into a phone meeting.  Sometimes I even take the dog on a walk and pick up garbage or dog poop in my neighborhood.  Anything to get my mind off myself. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Step Ten and Eleven in action. Thank you, God, and thank you, OA!

Leslie - Region 1

5 Comments
<<Previous
    Follow us on Facebook!
    ​

    BLOG POSTS ARE THE EXPERIENCE, STRENGTH AND HOPE OF INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS AND DO NOT REPRESENT OA AS A WHOLE.

    Search Blogs

    All
    7th Tradition
    Abstinence
    Action
    Amends
    Anonymity
    Body Image
    Carrying The Message
    Change
    Character Defects
    Commitment
    Diversity
    Fellowship
    Food
    Gratitude
    Higher Power / Spirituality
    HISTORY OF OA
    Holidays
    Honesty
    Hope
    Isolation
    Joy
    Life On Life's Terms
    Literature
    Meetings
    Perfection
    Perseverance
    Priniciples
    Professional Outreach
    Progress Not Perfection
    Promises
    Public Information
    Recovery
    Relapse
    Self Esteem
    Self-esteem
    Service
    Shame / Guilt
    Social Situations
    Sponsorship
    Steps / Steps In Daily Life
    Tools
    Traditions
    Unity
    Willing
    Willpower

    Blog Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    November 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    December 2016
    June 2016
    January 2016
    July 2015
    May 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    July 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013

Region One Overeaters Anonymous, P.O. Box 23235, Tigard, OR  97281    USA 
Email Webmaster                     Copyright 2020