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.
“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.”
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.
Spirituality is the solution to our problem of powerlessness, and we find this solution in the Twelve Step program of recovery. I’ve experienced three stepping-stones in this process: Amen, Amends, Amended Life. Step Three. Amen. So be it. I’ve made a decision to surrender to this process. Steps Four to Nine. The process of housecleaning, ending with … Continued
“An Atheist’s Prayer calls for strength in letting go of self-will, surrendering to the guidance of the program, and cultivating gratitude, growth, and serenity.”
Mercy F. once believed in a Higher Power but is now agnostic. She has found success in OA even when working with those who believe in God or Higher Power as an entity. “We don’t argue about it,” she says. “We bond over working the Steps, using the Tools, and following Good Orderly Direction.”
In Port of Cell, the author reflects on her evolving spiritual journey in OA, discovering that understanding God isn’t necessary to experience His love and guidance.
“In a moment of surrender, without truly believing in a Higher Power, I experienced a profound intervention that kept me abstinent and began to crumble the walls I had built around me.”
In Knock, Knock, Valerie G. reflects on her journey in Overeaters Anonymous, where a pivotal moment of openness to the concept of a Higher Power sparked a reexamination of her beliefs and a shift in her spiritual journey.
n Overeaters Anonymous, I found a community that taught me to believe in a power greater than myself—not through God, but through the fellowship and support of others who understand the journey.