For Today: July 23rd

If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth.

Abraham Lincoln

If Lincoln could achieve all that he did feeling such depression, can I not bear feeling down in the dumps occasionally without being driven to the insanity of compulsive overeating?

With the support of the OA program, it is possible to feel a full range of human emotions and remain abstinent.  Feelings have no power.  They cannot dictate my actions.  At times I have stood still and hurt, and at other times I applied for relief by contacting an OA friend or going to a meeting. Both ways work.

For Today:  Feeling bad is part of being human.   I don’t try to escape it any more than I try to escape feeling good.

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Why was I so so fearful of feeling bad?  I tried all sorts of things to escape the possibility of feeling bad!

"People who are happy don't use food to
sublimate. Food is supposed to be good for
you - not make you feel good!"
Gary Null 

I used food to sublimate.....to alter my reality.....and for a long while, it did just that. Of course, the price I paid for that escape was way too high. I was obese, unhealthy and unhappy.   Fat lot of good all that escaping did for me.

Only when I became willing to feel my emotions & deal with them could I get abstinent & stay abstinent.  I've recognized the fact that my emotions will not kill me, but obesity can & will.

For today, I will allow myself to feel my emotions without responding negatively to them. If I feel upset or sad, I know that too shall pass.  I don't expect to feel on top of the world every moment of every day and that's OK too!