For Today: July 7th

If all pulled in one direction, the world would keel over.

Yiddish proverb

It is rightly said that our common bond in Overeaters Anonymous is greater than our individual differences.  Aside from the experience we share as compulsive overeaters, however, we are as diverse as any group of people anywhere.

In offering help to someone who asks for it, I must keep individual differences in mind.  We are not carbon copies of one another.  What may benefit one person could be entirely inappropriate for another.  Each of us must be free to find our own way, both in the adoption of an eating plan and in working the program.

For Today:  Am I helping those I sponsor find what works best for them?

What works best for ME may not be what works best for everyone.  At meetings, it’s sometimes difficult to separate what works for someone, food plan wise, versus listening to a bunch of excuses about what foods they may ‘need’ to survive.  That’s THE hardest thing about finding abstinence: separating the Lies from the Truth when it comes to food.  I may think I ‘need’ trigger foods in my life and I may believe that I can eat them ‘in moderation’.  That doesn’t make it true……..

Some people may be able to eat trigger foods in moderation and still be abstinent, this is true. I am not one of them, nor do I know anyone who is able to actually DO it and be successful. But……that doesn’t make it ‘wrong’.

I strive to accept the differences amongst us & accept others for who they are, and for however they choose to work their individual programs.  

The common bond between compulsive overeaters is the behavior patterns & the beauty of seeing them & recognizing them in one another.  The food plans themselves are secondary to the bond of togetherness we face as a group.

For today, I pray to never pass judgment on another person’s  food plan of abstinence, or how they choose to work their programs of recovery. Variety is the spice of life!