Food For Thought: April 15th

A Daily Reprieve

Through the grace of our Higher Power and by means of the OA program, we compulsive overeaters are given a daily reprieve from our disease. This reprieve, however, is dependent on our spiritual condition. If we do not stay in touch with our Higher Power and if we do not practice the OA principles each day, we lose the reprieve and fall into compulsive overeating.

Our program comes first; other concerns are secondary. OA is not something which we can tack on to our schedule when it is convenient. To be effective, it requires top priority. This does not mean that we spend all of our time involved in OA activities. It does mean that all of our activities are guided by spiritual principles.

Impossible? Only if we refuse to turn our lives over to our Higher Power. When He is in control, our work, recreation, and rest all come under His direction. We are spiritually in tune each day and safe form our disease.

Thank You for saving me from my disease today.

*****************************************************************
".........all of our activities are guided by spiritual principles."  The Steps give me an action plan......a way to live where I put spiritual principles in charge, and not me & my stubborn will.


When a problem arises, as often happens, I pray for guidance on how to handle it.  That guidance always comes, but I have to ask for it.  If I go running off half-cocked, without seeking help & direction from God, I constantly question myself and my decisions.


When I allow spirituality to infuse my soul, that is when I am not obsessing about food, or trying to change my food plan, adding in 'extras' here and there.  I am content to accept the terms of my disease, and to allow my food plan of abstinence to dictate what & when I eat.


When my ego stays in charge is when I think I am in charge of the world.  When I think I have a 'better' way to eat, or when I think I can make 'exceptions', 'just this once', is when I find myself struggling.


My program comes first.  If I slip, I remember the old AA slogan: SLIP = Sobriety Loses Its Priority.  And that, in fact, is exactly what happens!  I put my program on the back burner, putting my will & my ego on the front burner, and voila...........what follows is a 'slip.'  Then I'm all nerved up, trying to figure out WHAT to do and where to turn.  In reality, the answer is simple: turn to God, surrender and let go to Him, get back to the food plan as written, and stop trying to micro-manage my life.


For today, I put my program of recovery FIRST, and everything else second.  If I am practicing my disease of compulsion(s), I am lost, once again, in the deep and dangerous sea of addiction.

For today, I thank you God for my daily reprieve.