“Connection with another person on any level is what I love most,” says Elizabeth from Missouri USA. But even after losing 120 pounds (54 kg) her defects of character kept her emotionally isolated. See how she found success working the OA program.
Jennifer’s childhood left her hungry for love, and that opened the door to an obsession with food. After thirty years of binge eating and diets another door opened: the door to recovery through OA. A year later, Jennifer can say, “I know I am worthy, and I want to nurture my authentic self and heal old wounds.”
Joan has completely turned her life around in the four years since she joined OA. “The person I am today is no longer full of yesterday’s resentments,” she says. “She is a person who seeks daily to be the OA message.”
From only a few relationships driven by selfishness, fear, and people pleasing to an abundance of healthy friendships—an incredible change made possible by working the Steps.
Writing can clarify emotions, reveal character defects, and enhance recovery. When it is shared, writing can even help other OA members with their own recoveries.
Linda, a compulsive eater, and Karen, abstinent compulsive eater and food addict, host this workshop on Step Ten: “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.”
The list of amends to make in Step Nine may be long, but it is guaranteed to be finite. Even in a difficult Ninth Step, the promises still come true! “And,” this writer reports, ”I am able to stay abstinent . . . one day at a time!”
At Step Nine, Fiona has to come to terms with apologizing to her mom. “Whether she apologizes is irrelevant,” she says. “I need to clear my side of the street.”
“The Fifth Step: what a daunting Step it was for me as a newcomer,” says Anonymous. “But I can remember the feeling when I was done . . . I was relieved.”
“When I first came to OA thirty-three years ago, I was a bundle of resentments, says Carrie. Today? “I can honestly say that I no longer have resentments . . . I marvel every day in this program how the Steps really work.”