Judge Not
When we have received the gift of abstinence and have gotten rid of excess weight, we sometimes tend to be very critical of those who have not yet succeeded with the physical part of the program. We may also be especially critical of those who obviously need the OA program, but who are not yet willing to try it.
Then there are some of us who resent those who come into the program with very little weight to lose or those who are of normal weight but nevertheless suffer from compulsive overeating.
Instead of worrying about other people and trying to pronounce judgment on their needs and efforts, it would be better to concentrate on our own progress. Only God understands completely where we are at a given moment, and only He can judge our sincerity and growth. We can help and encourage each other, but we are each responsible to our Higher Power.
To refrain from judging others is to stop trying to compare apples and oranges. We are each unique, and we grow according to our individual timetables.
May I not waste time and energy judging others.
*****************************************************
This reading brings to mind an old AA saw: “Don't judge your insides based on someone else's outside."
"Don't judge" is the point. When I go to an OA meeting, some look at me and say or think, "What is SHE doing here? SHE is not fat!" What I am 'doing' at the meeting is preserving my recovery and trying to keep it intact by sharing myself and absorbing the message that others have to share.
I know people with 20 or 30 lbs to lose that have a harder time losing THEIR weight than I had losing 100 lbs.
We all suffer when we eat compulsively, no matter how it may look on the outside.
In all probability, everyone can benefit from 12 step work & attending meetings: EVERYONE on earth. It is not my job to criticize those who choose not to. I can gently suggest, and then let the subject GO.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. In the meantime, we struggle, we suffer and we grasp at straws trying to find 'the answer'.
For today, I pray to keep judgment out of my thought process, and focus on my own recovery, one day at a time.
When we have received the gift of abstinence and have gotten rid of excess weight, we sometimes tend to be very critical of those who have not yet succeeded with the physical part of the program. We may also be especially critical of those who obviously need the OA program, but who are not yet willing to try it.
Then there are some of us who resent those who come into the program with very little weight to lose or those who are of normal weight but nevertheless suffer from compulsive overeating.
Instead of worrying about other people and trying to pronounce judgment on their needs and efforts, it would be better to concentrate on our own progress. Only God understands completely where we are at a given moment, and only He can judge our sincerity and growth. We can help and encourage each other, but we are each responsible to our Higher Power.
To refrain from judging others is to stop trying to compare apples and oranges. We are each unique, and we grow according to our individual timetables.
May I not waste time and energy judging others.
*****************************************************
This reading brings to mind an old AA saw: “Don't judge your insides based on someone else's outside."
"Don't judge" is the point. When I go to an OA meeting, some look at me and say or think, "What is SHE doing here? SHE is not fat!" What I am 'doing' at the meeting is preserving my recovery and trying to keep it intact by sharing myself and absorbing the message that others have to share.
I know people with 20 or 30 lbs to lose that have a harder time losing THEIR weight than I had losing 100 lbs.
We all suffer when we eat compulsively, no matter how it may look on the outside.
In all probability, everyone can benefit from 12 step work & attending meetings: EVERYONE on earth. It is not my job to criticize those who choose not to. I can gently suggest, and then let the subject GO.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears. In the meantime, we struggle, we suffer and we grasp at straws trying to find 'the answer'.
For today, I pray to keep judgment out of my thought process, and focus on my own recovery, one day at a time.
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