For Today: July 8th

By the husk you may guess at the nut.

Thomas Fuller

How do I shape up under scrutiny? Is my appraisal of myself an honest one, or do I fall back on variations of the theme, “Thin is not well,” or “Appearances aren’t everything”?  Do I use the old excuses of glands and metabolism for my continued overweight? Those rationalizations and the mental gymnastics they involve may be keeping me fat.

If I remain obese, what indication does a newcomer have that the program works?  I need to face the truth, starting with my definition of abstinence.  I may also need to replace sponsors who, out of misguided kindness, are helping me keep up the myth of spiritual recovery while I stay fat.

For Today:  I believe in the OA principle that each person is the sole judge of his or her ideal weight, but honesty is honesty and is not subject to interpretation.  How honest am I?

When I attend a face-to-face OA meeting and see a bunch of obese people who have been ‘working the program’ for years, I have to wonder what kind of program they are ‘working’, in reality.  Honesty IS at the core of Recovery, and a person isn’t being honest with himself if he’s still obese after years of OA.  His program isn’t working because HE is not working IT. 

I have fed myself a bunch of tired old excuses, along with excess food, for entirely too many years to not understand & recognize the symptoms of the disease.  “It takes one to know one” should probably be another OA slogan.

If I am ‘trying’ to work my program, that translates to ‘not doing’.  When I lie to myself about ‘trying’ to do something, it means I am trying to trick myself into thinking I’m putting forth the EFFORT, just not achieving the RESULTS. And that is a Lie, because, when I DO put forth an honest effort, I DO achieve the results I desire.

For today, I do not ‘try’ to work the steps: I work the steps.  I do not ‘try’ to stick my Food Plan, I stick to my Food Plan.  I do not ‘try’ to get in my allotted exercise, I get in my allotted exercise.  I do not ‘try’ to avoid delicious looking off program foods, I avoid delicious looking off program foods.  I go OUT of my WAY to take my abstinence seriously because that’s what it TAKES.