Guardian of My Recovery
“My understanding of anonymity has gone through several evolutions,” says one OA member, who now sees how anonymity encourages a focus on recovery.
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Memorializing OA Members
Barbara reflects on how to navigate the grieving process for a deceased OA fellow while upholding our Tradition of anonymity. After the funeral, she shares, “I spoke about the odd fact that even in death, our public face would have to remain incomplete.“
Fourth Step Persistence
Julie was abused as a child, but understand that everyone in OA has challenges in addition to overcoming compulsive eating. “For me, it all begins with willingness,” she says.
A Good Sponsor Wannabe Starts Small
Want to be a good sponsor? Try starting small with this OA member’s suggestions.
Sponsorship Is “Walking Someone Through the Steps”
“One of the better moves I made early in recovery,” says Anonymous, ”was finding a sponsor, says Anonymous from California USA. “As a sponsor, I have been able to help others and pass one what was freely given to me. . . . and that has proved to be the key to a happy, spiritual, and satisfying way of life.”
My Sponsor Was Right: OA’s Twelve Steps Did Work for Me
Earlier in her program, Barbara E. says she was “extremely skeptical that I might ever become neutral around the foods that beckoned me or that I’d become a happier, less volatile woman.” But her sponsor persisted in feeding her OA wisdom, and Barbara was desparate, and so she listened. Simply put, Barbara says of her sponsor, “She was right.”
A Grateful Goodbye to My First OA Sponsor
A good sponsor (and there are many good sponsors in OA) can come into your life at a moment’s notice and have a profound effect on our lifelong recovery. One OA member from Pennsylvania USA reflects on the good fortune (and good humor) of a sponsor who recently passed away.
Healing Connections through Sponsorship
“I pray that Higher Power shows me how to be sponsored and sponsor lovingly, caringly, and honestly,” says Alyson. Read the specifics of how she approaches giving and receiving sponsorship in OA.
The Springboard
“The Eighth Step is the springboard for creating genuinely healthy relationships, based on honesty, humility, balance, appreciation, and objectivity,” says one OA member. Sometimes, though, becoming willing to make direct amends takes time.
Group-Level Effort
“The longer I’m in program, the more I realize I don’t know what will work for anyone other than myself,” says one OA member. “I practice the Spiritual Principle of Tradition Eight: fellowship.”