For Today: April 11th

For Today: April 11th

And this is the noble truth of the arising of sorrow. It arises from craving…….

And this is the noble truth of the complete stopping of that craving….being emancipated from it.

The Pali Canon

“The complete stopping of that craving…..” How aptly that describes recovery in the twelve-step program.

Recovery is not resisting the craving, it is being free of it. The process may be a long or relatively short one, but until I experience that emancipation I must act on faith. I willingly and gratefully follow the suggestions of those whose craving has been arrested and who live in the grace of recovery.

For Today: My disease---the craving for excess food----has beaten me. But it is no match for the combined forces of my Higher Power, the OA Fellowship and my desire to stop.

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I’d love to say that I never have a craving for excess food, and that my recovery is 100% perfect. But I can’t. What this tells me is, there is more work to be done within the 12 Steps.

The greatest gift of all for a compulsive overeater like me IS Recovery…..the elimination of ALL cravings at ALL times. I’m not sure that is even a realistic hope…but I DO know that I HAVE been at that place before. I am not there at this moment, however, as I still have cravings to resist. If I am fighting off temptation, temptation will eventually WIN.

I am going back to OA meetings on Tuesday evenings at 6 pm, after work. I want to find that place of total Abstinence where there ARE no cravings.

For today, I pray to find what I need at the meetings and to hold onto it for dear life.