AJ joined OA when she became medically obese, which triggered worries about obesity-related illnesses in her family’s history. Today she is no longer obese, and with the help of other OA members, she is living in recovery from compulsive eating.
“The first gift of abstinence is clear thinking, ” says this anonymous OA member. For her, abstinence is also the first priority for being a capable sponsor. “When I walk the walk,” she says, ”I’m willing to be an ear and listen. I feel more flexible and less rigid.”
Jo used to steal food from the plates of hospital patients and eat their leftovers. Working the OA program, allowed him to come clean in Step Nine and find a new way of living.
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.”
Christina made the mistake of waiting to get a sponsor . . . and she is sharing her story now so you don’t have to make that same mistake. “Don’t wait,” she says. “Recovery awaits!”
Kelly is a newcomer who is working Step Three. “Having a sponsor has been a vital part of working my program,” she says. “Without their guidance, I would not know what or how to prioritize.”
Naomi expresses how valuable it is to her recovery to hear the recovery stories of other OA members.
OA member Glen F. reflects on the imperfect nature of being a sponsor. “Someday I’m going to let you down,” he reflects to his sponsee. Read on and take heart from his heart’s guidance, both spoken and unspoken.
Here I was at my rock bottom, and I didn’t feel I had any other choice.
“I can freely, honestly, and humbly admit that I am powerless over food,” says Carolyn M. When she takes OA’s First Step, it is not in hopeless defeat. Instead it is the beginning of a hopeful and liberating journey with a source of help that “gives me a peace I cannot describe.”