For Today: September 14th

Man is not the sum total of what he has already, but rather the sum of what he does not have yet, of what he could have.
Jean Paul Sartre

How do I know what I can be, or have? Is greater understanding of others possible? I am open to deriving more from experience, to relishing simple things and living with a kind of hale and hearty pleasure.  If I am willing to give up being quite so special or different, I may be able to give up my protective cover for a new way of seeing and believing and being.  An awareness of the shortcomings that remain show me what I do not yet have----and could attain.

For Today:  My history as a compulsive overeater is not the sum total of what I am, I am the sum of what I am reaching for in Overeaters Anonymous.

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I've always thought of myself as 'different'.........and not in a good way, either. How could anyone understand ME and my special circumstances; my special needs? Shouldn't exceptions be made for me? Do I not deserve to get what I want, when I want it?

Feeling entitled to get what I want, when I want it, drove me to compulsive overeating and other addictive behaviors. While I AM special in God's eyes, I am not so special or different or unique from my fellow human beings.

OA has taught me many things; that I am NOT my body; I am my soul; my personality, my mind, my capacity for love.  I am not a number on the scale, either.  I am not a sum total of my failures, but a sum total of my experiences, good and bad.

When I put abstinence first & foremost in my life, I can achieve ANYTHING I set my mind TO achieve, one day at a time.

For today, I will put abstinence first and allow everything good to flow from there.