For Today: September 1st

Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought.

Henry Adams

We OAs sometimes feel defensive that our best friends are in OA.  But what is so strange about that?  Where else can I find people with whom I have so much in common?  Who else do I know whose purpose is the same as mine?  Do any of my other friends and associates know the bottomless despair of compulsive overeating?

Yes, I am grateful for my friends in OA.  I have traded loneliness for closeness, standoffishness for warmth, and selfishness for giving.  I am grateful to OA, not only for my abstinence and growth, but also for my friends.  May I treat them with the consideration and care they deserve.

For Today:  I cherish my OA friends; because of them, all my relationships are improving.

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This is very true! My entire life has improved because of the relationships I’ve developed within OA.  I am most comfortable with my fellow OAers because they, more than anyone else on earth, understand ME.  I have so much in common with them and through that commonality, a strong bond is developed.  

Together  we share our experience, strength and hope, and together we learn how to deal with the burden of compulsive overeating behavior.  We share tips, we share ideas, but most of all, we share our SELVES with one another.  When one OAer discusses her history of pain and suffering, many others come forward to discuss THEIR stories of pain and suffering.  That way, we each realize we are NOT alone with our struggles.  And that, one day at a time, we CAN overcome the disease and start managing IT instead of having IT managing US.

For today, I am thankful to God for putting me in contact with a supportive, loving and familiar crowd of fellow compulsive overeaters who are all on a journey to find recovery through abstinence.