For Today: March 8th

For Today: March 8^th

Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were but little happy if I could say how much.

William Shakespeare

There are many in OA who are known to be working a good spiritual program, maintaining abstinence and normal weight---and who are neither on the “speaker circuit” nor among those who always volunteer to pitch in at meetings.

Their silence does not disparage in any way the sharing of their more articulate fellow members. It is simply a fact, one which enlightens us with the understanding that we can be “happy, joyous and free” and communicate that condition not through words but in that unmistakable glow found in the beautiful faces of recovering compulsive overeaters.

What we are does indeed speak louder than what we say.

For Today: It is not necessary to describe my happiness; it is enough to feel it. My family, friend and fellow OAs will know it from what I do and say in going about the everyday business of living.

When I attended my very first OA meeting, I was nervous & anxiety ridden because I didn’t know what to expect. When I walked into that room & looked around tentatively, a couple of women came right over to welcome me into the fold. They looked at me and one of them said, “You have the glow of happiness surrounding you….the light of God in your eyes & in your face.”  The other woman agreed wholeheartedly. I was shocked! I had been abstinent & sober for a month or so, and I FELT good, but it was amazing to hear these women SAY it out loud!  

Abstinence brings with it peace of mind & serenity. That peaceful serenity shines like a beacon from the face & eyes of every person who has found it.

Sometimes, it’s true, no words ARE required to convey what I am feeling. Other OAers are tuned into what the Face of Abstinence looks like.

For today, I pray to talk less & to listen more. I do not need a deluge of words to feel happy, joyous & free. When it’s in my heart, it’s on my face, in my walk, and written all over me like an open book.

THIS is what OAers have that others may want for themselves. 

For today, I pray to convey the OA message to others who may be looking for peace, serenity & joy in THEIR lives.