For Today: November 6th
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao-tzu
An OA member who has maintained a weight loss of more than 200 pounds for nearly ten years is the same person who was barely able to walk in the door of her first meeting. There are a few people around who remember her as she was then—grotesquely obese, wearing a size 52 dress that was bursting at the seams, and unable to sit on any of the chairs in the meeting room.
But she took that first step. She came to the meeting, got help in dragging a bench to the table where she sat with the others.
She kept right on coming back, parlaying that single step into a size 3 dress, a 110 pound body and a brand new life.
For Today: Now is the time to begin; tomorrow is too late.
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This reading always chokes me up……………..to think a woman who had felt THAT wretched could turn her life around with ONE single step just floors me!
A reading like this gives HOPE to the hopeless. If SHE can do it, I can do it………..if I can do it, YOU can do it. ALL things are possible through OA when we are willing to take that first step in admitting powerlessness over food.
Some may read this passage and say, "Well, I do not fit into the 'grotesquely obese' category! This does not apply to me." The way this woman felt is the same way any person with a weight issue feels: shameful, out of control, disgusted/disgusting...................I do not have to suffer a 200 lb weight problem to understand and to feel the same way. For a compulsive overeater, a 20 lb weight problem feels just as terrible as a 200 lb weight problem.
This reading always chokes me up……………..to think a woman who had felt THAT wretched could turn her life around with ONE single step just floors me!
A reading like this gives HOPE to the hopeless. If SHE can do it, I can do it………..if I can do it, YOU can do it. ALL things are possible through OA when we are willing to take that first step in admitting powerlessness over food.
Some may read this passage and say, "Well, I do not fit into the 'grotesquely obese' category! This does not apply to me." The way this woman felt is the same way any person with a weight issue feels: shameful, out of control, disgusted/disgusting...................I do not have to suffer a 200 lb weight problem to understand and to feel the same way. For a compulsive overeater, a 20 lb weight problem feels just as terrible as a 200 lb weight problem.
Abstinence means 'not overeating'..............sticking to a pre-determined food plan that leaves me satisfied but overfed. When I am abstinent, I have plenty of time to do other things..........to stop the obsession with food and to focus on more important things. At first, the day drags on and on.........there's 'nothing to do' because all my time had previously been spent on food related thoughts and actions. What will I DO with myself?
Other things, is the answer. I will write, I will read recovery material, I will clean my house that was neglected because of devoting all my time to food related activities...........I will go for a drive, I will call a friend or family member. The list gets longer as I stay abstinent on a daily basis.
Abstinence is my only goal: when I fulfill that commitment, everything else falls into place. That's how I take my LIFE back, and how I CREATE a NEW life for myself, one day at a time.
When I struggle, I will return to this For Today reading and I will be inspired to press ON. With God's help and the 12 Steps as my guide, I can do ANYTHING!
You are so right. I know I need to find ways to fill up the empty time slots, also.
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