I Stand Aside from My Discomforts to Stand Inside Wisdom
“Joy comes in finding the good, even in the bad. Not only would I rather find joy, I am also assured that Higher Power would want this for me also.”
“Joy comes in finding the good, even in the bad. Not only would I rather find joy, I am also assured that Higher Power would want this for me also.”
A medical doctor puts the high cost of obesity in society in perspective and explains how OA provides a solution for individuals suffering from compulsive eating.
Compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors are indicators of an individual’s suffocated spirit. However, with the encouragement, support, wisdom, and love of OA’s Fellowship, a new sense of wholeness can emerge.
When I first came into Overeaters Anonymous, I quickly learned to respect anonymity: who I saw, who said what—none of that was mine to share with anyone.
John hated his grandmother for the way she treated him as a kid. And he ate over it. But by working Steps Eight and Nine and by doing a “forgiveness inventory,” he got to the bottom of it and was able to forgive. “This program is amazing,” he writes.
“I need to forgive myself for my addiction,” says Anonymous. Thankfully, we can all share in this very powerful part of Step Nine.
Gerri, an abstinent food addict and compulsive overeater, and Karen, abstinent compulsive overeater and food addict, host this workshop on Step Seven: “Humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.”
Kaitlin’s sugar addiction started in middle school after her parents’ divorce caused a number of stresses in her life. She later discovered bulimia and started overexercising, using laxatives, and vomiting. Today she has a new life that she once thought was impossible.
Esti remembers as a teen feeling a compulsive need to diet and believing she was heavier than she actually was. She ate to cope with negative emotions and could not stop thinking about food.
Esti recalls immediately feeling comfortable at OA meetings and finding abstinence. Looking back, Esti says her inner life has changed significantly, and she is able to live her life without obsessing about food.