Program Inspiration

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Recovery Story • Ask-It Basket • Important Dates • Twelfth Step Within

Overeaters Anonymous • Our personal recovery stories remind us that we are not alone. Through another's experience, strength and hope, we can know recovery for ourselves.

• Ask-It Basket is a place to ask your questions about recovery, service and OA operations.

• Important Dates provide information about opportunities to share recovery and Fellowship with others.

• Twelfth Step Within offers hope to still-suffering compulsive overeaters within the Fellowship and provides information for Twelfth-Step-Within committees.

Keep reading for more inspiration and support to help you in your recovery:

Serenity prayer
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

The OA Promise
I put my hand in yours, and together we can do what we could never do alone. No longer is there a sense of hopelessness, no longer must we each depend upon our own unsteady willpower. We are all together now, reaching out our hands for power and strength greater than ours, and as we join hands, we find love and understanding beyond our wildest dreams.

The Third-Step Prayer
God, I offer myself to thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy love, and Thy way of life. May I do Thy will always! (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 63)

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The Seventh-Step Prayer
My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen. (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 76)

We who began working the Steps in order to recover from compulsive eating now find that through them we have embarked on a lifelong journey of spiritual growth. From the isolation of food obsession we have emerged into a new world. Walking hand in hand with our friends and our Higher Power, we are now exploring this world, using the great spiritual principles embodied in the Twelve Steps as the map to guide our way. We gratefully follow in the footsteps of many others who have walked this way before us, and we're gratified to be making footprints of our own for others to follow.

Those of us who live this program don't simply carry the message; we are the message. Each day that we live well, we are well, and we embody the joy of recovery which attracts others who want what we've found in OA. We're always happy to share our secret: the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous, which empower each of us to live well and be well, one day at a time. (The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, p. 106)

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Been Slippin’ and Slidin’? A Reading and Writing Tool
For members who want to stop “slipping and sliding,” download "Been Slippin' and Slidin'?*, which contains 30 questions for use in daily writing and/or discussion with a sponsor. The questions are also recommended for those in relapse who want to recommit to their OA program.

Recovery Insurance Policy
Together we can do what we could never do alone . . . This Recovery Insurance Policy* is a pledge between two OA members to support and to be accountable to one another. No member is immune to relapse or to quitting OA. This agreement is an “insurance policy” against both possibilities. If you think this agreement could be helpful for you, fill out your name and other information as the “I” on one side of the form and have another OA member complete the other half. Cut the forms apart and exchange sides. Place the agreement in a prominent spot to remind you of your commitment to recovery and to service. This Recovery Insurance Policy is no guarantee of recovery, but it may keep you from leaving OA before the miracle happens. And remember to KEEP COMING BACK NO MATTER WHAT!

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Overeaters Anonymous The Gratitude Path

It seems to me that the antidote to negative thinking is gratitude. I tend toward negativity, especially when I am confused or stressed. I find that if I substitute thoughts of gratitude, my thinking goes from being fear-based to being God-based. By thinking myself into a state of gratitude, I am freed of my negativity.

It doesn't matter how childish or mundane my thanks are. I can begin with thoughts such as these: Thank you for the chair. Thank you for the stars. Thank you for my shoes. Thank you for the opportunity to serve. Thank you for new challenges. Thank you for guidance. These thoughts help me to get out of my negative feelings and to concentrate on that for which I am grateful. Then I end up in a spiritually high place, where I am in a state of gratitude. Rather than taking all of my blessings for granted, I feel the presence of a power greater than myself. I don't feel alone, vulnerable, insignificant or negative. Instead, I feel full of faith, safe and confident that I am on the right path.

— C.L., Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA

Laughing at Myself
When I have the ability to laugh at myself, it’s a good indication that my humility is where it should be. When I take myself, and everyone and everything around me, too seriously, I fall flat into a big lack of humility. There have been days when I’m so busy controlling and manipulating and people-pleasing and lying that I couldn’t possibly laugh. But when I’m abstinent, I’m more than halfway there, and when I pray and ask my Higher Power to remove my defects, I’m already on my way to being able to laugh at myself. And it’s important to note that it’s not self-deprecating laughter, but rather a clear view of a less-than-perfect me. I’m human and fallible and full of faults—and full of love for myself.

— Reprinted from Lifeline, January 1998

More Inspiring Stories
Previously on this page, the following stories are now available as PDF* files:

They Were Praying
The Mask

*These PDF files require Acrobat Reader. If you don't have it installed on your computer, go to the Help page for instructions on how to download this free tool.

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