Our MC, Debi K, did a great job setting everyone at ease and creating a safer setting for members to listen and share. Our two main speakers were Mark M. and Sara R. Between their two stories, they shared decades of 12 Step recovery. Their stories included experiences with the steps, leaving OA, relapses, setbacks, discouragement, growth, hope and commitment to their recoveries.

OA is a spiritual program of recovery

At 12:30 Mountain time, we joined in simultaneous prayer with members of Overeaters Anonymous worldwide, reciting “Rozanne’s Prayer.” It was shared more than once, that the power of the “unified prayer,” was physically felt by some of those present.

All of us were moved as well by the “musical element” Mark M. brought to our event. It included a song he was inspired to write as a result of one of our member’s share on IDEA Day, exemplifying one aspect of the “unity” we were celebrating. We also closed with the now recorded musicial version of Rozanne’s prayer, “I put my hand in yours” (which can now be found, and is available for downloading, on our website.)

It was uplifting and encouraging to share the day with others, whose support strengthened the sense of “unity” both here in Denver and internationally. We never know how our “share” might touch the life and recovery of someone else.

OA’s unity depends on each one of us taking action. This can take the form of coming to meetings, not necessarily for yourself, but to give back….it means taking the time to “reach out” to newcomers, those that are “invisible” and others who could use a “connection.”…..it means calling folks you haven’t seen in a while…it means participating in and supporting OA, to make sure it is available to all those suffering with our disease…it is reaching out to one another….it is being here today.

Appreciation extends to all those that made this special day happen. Thank you!

Honored to be able to serve,

Amyk
Interim Twelfth Step Within Chair

PS – Please feel free to leave your comments and impressions of the event in the comments section that follows. Thank you!

Rozannes Prayer

The Words

I put my hand in yours, and together we can do what we could never do alone. No longer is there a sense of hopelessness, no longer must we each depend upon our own unsteady willpower. We are all together now, reaching out our hands for power and strength greater than ours, and as we join hands, we find love and understanding beyond our wildest dreams.

Thanks Mark & Ace. It’s a beautiful gift!

Volunteer for 9HealthFairs in April, 2012

We’re looking for volunteers to carry the OA message to compulsive eaters at this year’s 9HealthFair.

Our goal is to have local OA representatives at 24 9HealthFair locations across the Denver metro area during April, 2012.

Duties are simple, answer questions and hand out OA literature to interested individuals. Shifts are 3 hours in length and you’ll have your choice of days, times and locations to volunteer.

The work is easy, the rewards are immense.

If you’re interested in finding out more you can complete the form below and an OA area HealthFair coordinator will follow up with more information:

Yes, I'm interested in volunteering to represent OA at an upcoming 9HealthFair event in April. Please contact me with more information.

*(denotes required field)

Name:*

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Here’s the opening paragraph. Follow the link for the rest of the story…

Overeaters Anonymous: One Food Addict’s Spiritual Cure

OA is a spiritual program of recovery

I thought of the hundreds of times I’d sat in a restaurant so locked into a basket of bread that Jesus himself could have sat down beside me and I would not have noticed. How available could I have been to other people at the table? Did I have anything to offer my family and friends? The underlying suffering of all addiction is self-centeredness, but unlike garden-variety egocentricity, addiction guarantees an unrelieved isolation. At every turn, need is confused with love. Need replaces love, obscures it, and manipulates it. And, as the wisdom traditions tell us—in one way or another—Love is God. This is the all-encompassing love of unconditional acceptance, and the radical vision of 12-step work is that this unconditional acceptance can be, and in fact is, realized by drunks and drug and food addicts sharing their stories and listening with open—and broken—hearts. For many members, the meetings themselves represent higher power; for others, the communion established by stories shared with raw honesty testifies to God’s presence and blessing.

– Read the rest of this OAs story at Oprah.com –

 :: Disclaimer ::

Oprah.com and O, the Oprah Magazine are commercial enterprises which Overeaters Anonymous, in keeping with the 12 Traditions of OA, neither endorse or support.

OA Slogans

The slogans have been called the handrails to the 12 Steps.

• One Day at a Time
• Let Go and Let God
• Easy Does It.
• First things first.
• Live and let live.
• But for the grace of God.
• Think think think.
• Came in for the Vanity, Stayed for the Sanity
• When I stopped living in the problem, the problem went away. Acceptance is the answer… AA Big Book
• If you pray, don’t worry. If you worry, don’t pray.
• Holding a Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
• Expectations = Resentments under construction.
• Release what does not bless you.
• Imperfect but trying.
• Progress, not perfection.
• I don’t think less of myself, I think of myself less.
• Sobriety is not about getting sober, it’s about staying sober.
• Recovery = a lifetime of work. That’s why we’re given a lifetime to do it.
• Serenity is a feeling of stability within.

OA Member Virginia W. brought the following, MASSIVE, list to our attention. Get a cup of tea and snuggle up by the fire while you peruse this serious dose of OA & Program wisdom!

ABSTINENCE

• Abstinence frees me to choose healthy foods, healthy friends, and healthy thoughts.
• Abstinence is a life style.
• Abstinence is a state of grace by which I am balanced physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
• Abstinence is all GOD is asking of me today.
• Abstinence is the #1 action in my life, so that GOD can be in the center.
• Abstinence keeps me present for life and joy.
• Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.
• Abstinence takes care of the fat on my body.
• My abstinence becomes three meals a day with “life” in between.
• Remember: GOD has done abstinence for us.
• Since abstinence; my only “To Do List” is life!
• The only time I have ever been satisfied is when I am abstinent.
• To be or not to be abstinent? That is the question.  GOD is the answer.
• To keep abstinence alive, I have to be constantly aware of it.
• When we are abstinent, we can truly be present for other people who are in pain.

OA ACRONYMS & SLOGANS

• GOD = Good Orderly Direction
• GOD= Group Of Drunks
• GOD= Gift Of Desperation

• FEAR = F— Everything And Run, OR
• FEAR = Face Everything And Recover
• FEAR is not fact!

• FAT HEAD = FAT THINKING 

• AMENDS = CHANGE
• SORRY = SAME

• SHIT = Special High Intensity Thinking
• Full of Food vs. Full of God
• Spread the message not the mess.
• AM vs. FM Dial ?  Is my dial Against Me or For Me?
• Let go or get dragged.

• The ISM of alcoholism = ISelf Me
• The ISM of alcoholism = Insane Story Machine

•  ACT myself into ways of thinking.
• Disease feeds the disease.
• Isolation is the dark room where I develop my negatives.
• Tough shit. Don’t eat!
• Together we get better.
• Head Trip = my head, thoughts, and unfinished issues that lead me to food.
• Life becomes more than food.
• Food is fuel. It is not my lover or friend.
• Before 12 Step Recovery, I was a piece of shit that the world revolved around.
• Being right is not as important as being FREE!

• The less I come to OA Meetings, the less I want to come.
• There are two times when you go to an OA Meeting: when you want to and when you do not want to!

• Don’t believe everything you think!
• Focus less on food and more on people.
• How I feel about my body has nothing to do with how I look.
• When the pain of where I am, overwhelms the fear of where I am going; then, I am ready and willing to grow and change is OA.

GOD :: HIGHER POWER :: SPIRITUALITY

• God’s will is a loving thought and a loving action.
• GOD is more powerful than _________________________! ! !
• Don’t tell GOD how big your problems are, tell your problems how big GOD is.
• GOD, if you can put the stars in the sky with the sweep of your hand; then, maybe, You can help me with my compulsive eating.
• Wait on GOD! And, GOD will bless your weight.
• I no longer serve GOD in an advisory capacity.
• GOD is interested in how I trust GOD not in what I weigh.
• GOD has great plans for us; and it is not having our heads in the toilet.
• It is not in finding GOD or in naming GOD; but in pursuing GOD.
• I need a practical GOD that will come between me and the food.
• Resentment is a deadly hazard.
• The alcoholic clings to the times when alcohol used to work.
• Coincidence is our Higher Power remaining anonymous.
• If you feed your faith, doubts will starve.
• OA is not drive-through recovery!
• The key to the future is forgiveness.
• OA Recovery has given me a relationship with The Mystery of Life!
• Impression Management   vs. honesty with GOD, self and others.

SUGAR, SUGAR AND NO MORE SUGAR ! ! !

• SUGAR is like a grenade.
• SUGAR is the vampire of the spirit.
• SUGAR is like adultery; it betrays you and everyone else.
• I do not eat paint, Styrofoam or SUGAR! I do not envy those who do.
• I do not drink alcohol because it is highly refined SUGAR!
• It is not fruits or carrots that brought us to OA!

OA RECOVERY

• Compulsive eating is an equal opportunity disease.
• In OA, my job is to serve other people.
• Before OA, there was never enough to satisfy me; in OA, abstinence satisfies me now.
• Through OA Recovery, I experience more days of grace.
• OA allows me to “be”.
• In OA, we leave the results to GOD.
• My life must illustrate OA Recovery.
• Before OA, I had a hole in my soul not a whole soul.
• Before OA, I was constantly engaged in the “pursuit of never enough”.
• Being right is not as important as being FREE!
• OA has taught me how to keep company with my feelings rather than eat over them.
• My old life before OA, depended upon hanging onto my defects and my old survival skills.
• Find the blessings in this disease through the OA Fellowship.
• In OA, I am learning to take care of myself and others.
• Before OA, I had a head full of knowledge and a heart full of nothing.
• Codependency was a sport in my family.
• I need boundaries around food or I would bury myself alive with food.
• OA is a camaraderie and fellowship among people who understand.
• OA Meetings keep us connected to our own kind.
• FOOD kept me neutral so I would not feel pain or joy.
• The honesty is healing me.
• The old solution before OA was to feed the voice.
• OA is not drive-through recovery.
• The less I come to OA Meetings, the less I want to come!
• When I want to eat between meals, then, something is going on; and it is not hunger.
• The mental twist is what leads to the first compulsive bite.
• A queer mental condition surrounds the first compulsive bite.
• To pass it on to others plays an important role and a vital part in our own recovery.
• Courage and compassion are needed when I miss the mark.
• OA is the bright spot of our lives:
• we watch loneliness vanish,
• we see the fellowship grow,
• we have frequent contact with newcomers,
• we carry the message of hope and recovery; and
• we help when no one else can!

Take Virginia’s Gift with You – Click to Download the Things I Heard in OA Meetings PDF.

Don’t See Your Favorite OA Nugget?

Use the comments section of this page, below, to contribute your own favorite OA or 12 Step Program sayings. Who knows whose day you’ll improve!

Register to Speak in R3

The Region 3 Twelfth Step Within Committee is in the process of updating the Region III Speakers’ List. All qualified OA members in Region III who would like to speak at workshops and other program events are encouraged to apply for inclusion in this list. The qualifications statement reads: “I certify that I have at least one year of current abstinence, that I have a sponsor, that I sponsor at least one other member of Overeaters Anonymous, and that I regularly attend OA meetings.” If you select the “I am interested in applying for inclusion in the World Service Twelfth-Step-Within Speakers’ List” option your application will be forwarded to the World Service Twelfth Step Within Committee as well. The completed form must be signed by your sponsor or an officer of your Intergroup prior to submission.

Completed applications may be submitted in .pdf format to r3tswchair@oaregion3.org.

• Overeaters Anonymous Region III Speakers List Application (PDF)

Lifeline Weekly from OA

Lifeline Weekly is a weekly publication of the OA World Service Organization. You can receive your own subscription to LW as a bonus when you subscribe to e-Lifeline, the online version of Lifeline magazine at http://www.oa.org/lifeline-magazine/subscribe-to-e-lifeline/.

Lifeline Weekly provides an inspirational “best of” selection of articles from previous editions of OA’s Lifeline magazine and its digital counterpart, e-Lifeline. Here are a few recent editions courtesy of WSO’s Intergroup Loop:

• Lifeline Weekly – April 16, 2012
• Lifeline Weekly – April 9, 2012
• Lifeline Weekly – April 2, 2012
• Lifeline Weekly – March 26, 2012

• A Step Head – 2nd Quarter, 2012

When we’re sinking, OA members are there to buoy us up. Many of us have found that OA’s influence in our life is nothing less than miraculous. Lifeline Weekly, e-Lifeline, and the print Lifeline magazine can shine a little light into your day, whether or not you have time for a meeting!

We were glad we did as speaker Wendy shared a profound message of her experience with compulsive eating and how her desire to no longer be lonely lead her to Overeaters Anonymous. In OA she has found strength and hope as never before. She’s no longer alone. She has a fellowship and, most importantly, her spiritual relationship with a Higher Power has evolved into true relationship.

The foundation of Wendy’s story came from excerpts she shared of her writings in the OA 12 Step Workbook. She has a unique way of journaling in that she meditates on the topic and then merely records the response and inspiration she receives from her HP. She closed with a message of the love and care that she believes God holds for each one of us.

Listen as Wendy shares…¹

Stay tuned to the Event’s section of this site for the next OA Speakers Meeting.

Share Your Experience, Strength & Hope

If you were at the meeting or listened to the message here please consider sharing your OA experience, strength and hope in recovery below…

¹ The opinions expressed by our speakers are given as individual OA members and do not represent OA as a whole.

[Scroll down for the event recordings...]

It was a day for the name “Rose” as Rose G offered her talents to MC the event. Our speaker, Rosie H, graciously flew up from Mesa, Arizona to share her comeback story of 25+ years in recovery. She mentioned that one of the things she did “right” was to keep coming back. Her perseverance and ever present enthusiasm, encouraged many of us to reflect on our own journey and what we might do to strengthen our own program.

Her selfless candor and honesty about not wanting, at different times, to be part of OA; the price of the forever growing weight gain as a result of her leaving each time, and the self hatred that continued to undermine her efforts to stay abstinent, were touched on. Everyone seemed to relate to the obstacles she described.

We were in for several treats this year. MaryAnn, Marion and Marilyn, who made up the “Steppettes,” shared a couple of familiar songs, whose altered words brought enjoyment to those in attendance. Marilyn again shared her song “Little Bit By Very, Very Little Bit,” which is becoming a “regular” at our brunches. Mark M. helped end the event with his amazing musical version of Rozanne’s Prayer.

Thanks go out to the Sheraton Denver West for providing a wonderful venue for our celebration, and all those who stepped up to do the work to make this yearly event happen.

Finally, thanks to Jim C. for recording and editing the event so that those who were there can enjoy it again and those who weren’t have an opportunity to share the experience, strength and hope offered at this wonderful OA kickoff to 2012.

Event Recordings

The Fabulous Steppettes and Recognition of Members’ Years in OA

Amy K. Introduction and Guest Speaker Rosie Shares on Recovery, Relapse and Back Again

OA Members’ Share and Mark M. performs his musical interpretation of Rozanne’s Prayer.

Here is how it works:

The ABC Basket (with slips of paper and a pen) is passed around twice. Those wishing to participate will write their name, phone# and the best time to receive a call on a slip of paper, fold it and put it in the basket on the 1st time around. The 2nd time around, each participant draws out a name.

This is the “buddy” you will call that week. Since someone else has drawn your name and will call you, each person will have two buddy connections for the week.

This is a great way to use several of our OA TOOLS:

• By reaching out to each other by TELEPHONE and being each other’s buddies for the week (for as often and in whatever way that develops between the two of you),
• you are having mini-MEETINGS and being of SERVICE to each other.
• By perhaps supporting each other’s abstinence through your sharing and commitment to each other, (“I’ll abstain if you’ll abstain.”), its like temporary SPONSORSHIP.

It is a wonderful way to connect with someone you might not otherwise have gotten to know as well.

I hope your groups will be willing to try it. Remember, “Together we get better”.

Happy ABCing.

Love and Blessings,

Ann D.