Faith and Courage
March/April 2024
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It's a great time to get outdoors, get connected and start thinking about going to one of the many retreats we have going on in our states and the surrounding areas. There are lots of great things going on in Connecticut and in OA - read about our events below!
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We have 23 active meetings each week in our area. Fifteen on Zoom, one on the phone only, and seven in-person meetings (including one hybrid/in-person). We invite you to try a new-to-you meeting and explore the different formats. All meeting details can be found on our website.
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Happenings Around Connecticut |
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March 21 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm EDT
Zoom ID: 886 7369 1241, PW: 559804
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Zoom Meeting - Recovery From Relapse |
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Saturdays at 6:00 pm Eastern time
Zoom: 874 305 1352, Password: recovery
For info: Sandy G, 860-391-7092
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March & April Step Highlight: Faith and Courage |
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Step 3
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Taking Step Three shows our willingness to live by God's will, one day at a time...We concentrate on whomever or whatever we think God might be, and we say out loud, in words of our own choosing, that we now turn our will and our lives over to our Higher Power, holding nothing back.
Step 4
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
We realize being willing to do the inventory and wanting to do it are two different things...This inventory and the rest of the Steps are the implementation of our Step Three commitment. The decision we made to "turn our will and our lives over" to a Power greater than ourselves is meaningless unless it is followed by action.
"The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, 2nd edition, copyright Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.”
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Steps 3 & 4 Traditions
Tradition Three: The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
How do we practice the Third Tradition?
- Does our group encourage everyone to take part in discussions?
- Do we focus our discussions on the thing we, as compulsive eaters, have in common?
- Are we overly impressed by an OA member's celebrity, professional status, or experience with other Twelve Step programs? Or does the group treat each member equally?
- Does the group continue to extend a welcome to all compulsive eaters, even those who have been critical of group practices in the past?
Tradition Four: Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or OA as a whole.
How do we practice the Fourth Tradition?
- Do we stop to consider that our group's attitudes and actions may mold many newcomers' first impressions of OA as a whole?
- Do we ever consider how our group's actions might affect the public's opinion about OA as a whole?
- Do we keep our group free of control or influence from outside of OA?
- Do we practice the Principle of autonomy by taking responsibility for our own actions and avoiding attempts to control the actions of others?
Excerpts from "The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, 2nd edition, copyright Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.”
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Living the Step Principles
Step 3: Faith
...we added to this acceptance of our utter helplessness a newfound faith that there exists a Power greater than us that can relieve us of the obsession with food and restore us to sanity
Step 4: Courage
No longer needing to appear perfect, we can live more fully, having the courage to face up to our mistakes and test our strengths in the challenges of life
Excerpts from For Today and The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, 2nd edition, copyright Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.”
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Tradition 3. The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
It is hard to not to take the inventory of my fellow OA members. I ask myself (and thank God not others aloud) "Why are you here if you don’t want to give up your old ways?” I struggle with this requirement not being so required.
18 months into clean abstinence from red light foods and an overall 28 months free from restricting, exercise bulimia or binging, I have a new perspective on my honesty, perseverance and discipline to the 12-step program of life. It is one that I have to actively put forth my efforts towards so the mental blank spot of the Doctor’s opinion doesn’t become my daily active diagnosis.
When my disease did more of the talking and my hands/mouth/feet did more of the walking I was helpless and hopeless against its strength. I binged followed by a period of restricting or excessive exercise bulimia. If I was feeling particularly lazy or ashamed I chose to use laxatives instead so that I would have ‘liquid’ elimination of all the evidence of weight I’d be guilty of packing on my body. My mind ran rampant with justifications, self pity and belligerent denial. I don’t wish that aspect of the disease mind and body upon anybody- especially not my fellow sick and suffering overeaters whom food takes us under.
It is continuously daily work through my 10th and 11th step work to not take other’s inventories. I must remain in my own recovery, be mindful to my own body and mind chatter, or else I’m never going to recover. God can’t help me if I’m blocking out what I need to do for me to live in the solution. I’m supposed to love my fellows unconditionally as long as they are here beside me.
That’s what its all about: unity. Together we get better.
-Jacki A.
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Step 3 was my surrender Step |
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Step 3 was my surrender Step. I decided to turn what I wanted and believed (my will) and what I did and what happened to me (my life) over to OA at first – I stopped arguing and surrendered. Surrendering in Step 3 gave me the foundation that ultimately me to recovery through all 12 Steps:
Surrender 101 - turning my will and life over to the care of OA
- deciding to follow a food plan;
- deciding to work the steps;
- working with a sponsor, turning over my food, taking steps 1, 2, 3 and starting the 4th step.
Surrender 201 - spiritual surrender
- asking God to show me the way;
- trusting and relying on infinite God rather than my finite self (or trying to);
- praying for knowledge of God’s will; trying to be the person God would have me do; continuing my work on the steps.
Graduate school surrender - turning everything over to God;
- If this is your will, God, please show me the way;
- Deciding to accept that whatever happens today is God’s will;
- Acting as if
- Kimberly C
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Disclaimer: personal stories and quotes throughout this newsletter express the experience, strength, and hope of the individual member and not of OA as a whole.
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HOW TO REACH US
We would LOVE to hear from YOU!
If you have a brief story to tell,
SUBMIT to:
secretaryctig@gmail.com
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