My Higher Power = Life Force
Some atheist and agnostic OA members practice meditation in Step Eleven. For one agnostic, meditation has inspired a poem and a recognition of their personal Higher Power.
Higher Power
I’m Still an Agnostic and I Still Keep Coming Back
Can an agnostic find recovery from binge eating in the OA program when it has so many references to God? In her own words, one agnostic OA member says, “This program works. I have not binged in over twelve years. If you are like me, I encourage you to attend one of the many atheist/agnostic/secular OA meetings. Hope to see you there!”
God Wants Me in OA
Terri explains what her religious friends and the strangers she has encountered don’t understand: that nothing can help her overcome her bingeing except her Higher Power, the Twelve Steps, and the Fellowship of Overeaters Anonymous.
An Expert’s Prayer: Help Me Be Teachable
“When you have absolutely no self-esteem … sometimes you hide behind a wall of being ‘the expert.’” says this OA member. “I have made so many changes in my life, but there’s one that excites me the most.”
Whole New Me
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.”
One Year Ago Today
“It was only a few moments into my first meeting that I realized it was not about the weight, but the way I was leading my life,” says Marti, who reflects on her one-year anniversary of abstinence from compulsive overeating.
Best Days
At age 11, Paul started binge eating to cope with feelings of loneliness and boredom and that compulsive eating behavior stayed with him through adulthood. After Paul found OA, his life changed completely, and he has learned to turn his powerlessness over to his Higher Power in exchange for the gift of abstinence.
Take Action — Reach for a Tool
I’ll never forget my last close call with bingeing. I had just left the doctor’s office after a check-up in early May 2006. It was my first time meeting this doctor. I was 35 pounds (16 kg) overweight and two weeks back into program. She was professional and told me I needed to lose weight … Continued
Step Twelve: “The Importance of Working All Twelve Steps” Podcast Series
Cyndy, compulsive eater, and Meg, food and sugar addict, host this workshop on Step Twelve: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” This workshop includes great shares about the value of giving service.
Spiritual Rewrite
“I was complaining to my sponsor about the religious language of the Eleventh Step Prayer,” says one OA member. “She suggested I rewrite it in language that is meaningful to me.” Read the rewrite in this story.