For Today: November 21st

There is no more mistaken path to happiness than worldliness, revelry, high life.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Many people spend their lives yearning for the “good life” they imagine is being lived by those who are written about in the gossip magazines.

Contrary to popular opinion, worldliness, revelry and high life are the enemies of happiness because each of them represents excess—too much of a good thing.  Certainly, it is a good thing to celebrate joyous occasions, to mark the passage of time with festivities; but these events are valued precisely because they are indulged in with moderation.  A party every day would mean the total extinction of happiness.

For today:  Good and bad times come and go, but the only real and lasting happiness is feeling good about myself.  The first requirement for this condition is abstinence.

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I used to live with excess everything, thinking it was fun; thinking I deserved to have what I wanted, when I wanted it.  Until, of course, all that excess turned against me and made my life miserable instead of fun.

But then I was stuck with bad habits, having no idea how to get out of the hellish situation I'd gotten myself into.

When I found abstinence, I knew I wanted to hang onto it for dear life.  This is living! This is moderation, which I've never known before.  OA provides me a way to live, joyous and free, without the burden of addiction weighing me down mentally, physically and spiritually.

Abstinence equals structure & structure prevents chaos.  When I was living with excess, I was living in chaos.  OA brought peace & clarity into my life once I became willing to accept structure in my life.

For today, I will not behave excessively in any area of my life.  For today, I will stick to the notion that less is more and simple is better.  For today, I will not question my decision, and I will leave everything in God's hands.

For Today: November 20th

As I watched the seagulls, I thought, “That’s the road to take; find the absolute rhythm and follow it with absolute trust.”

Nikon Kazantzakis

Compulsion is self-will gone berserk.  It is the polar opposite of effortless abstinence—of being in harmony with the rhythm of the universe, “going with the flow,” letting go and letting God.

When I surrendered my compulsion to God, I found the absolute rhythm and followed it with absolute trust.  It is as close as a human being can come to being a part of nature.

In speaking of her experience of surrender, an OA recalls sensing rather than hearing a kind of music that seemed to be made by all of nature’s elements----herself included---acting in harmony.

For Today:  There is more to be experienced in surrendering my life to a Higher Power than I can ever imagine.

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Self will..........the power I have to destroy myself in the blink of an eye.

Hah.

When I surrendered my powerlessness over food is when I gave my life over to the care & direction of God, a Power greater than Me Me Me.

When I agree to stick to an abstinent food plan, I give up my will & take on God's will for me.

Look what I've accomplished on my own: eating myself up to obesity & misery.

Look what God has accomplished for me:  maintenance of a healthy body, mind, and spirit through avoidance of excess food.

When I allow my self-will to run berserk, my entire life is out of control.

When I allow God to guide me, my entire life is calmer, happier and more controlled in general. 

I follow the path that God wants me to follow; I do the footwork, and I allow Him to do the rest.

One day at a time..........for the next 24 hours only, I will put my life into God's hands & allow Him to guide me into making wise decisions.

When I woke up this morning, I thanked God for another day of abstinence & sobriety.  Before I go to sleep tonight, I will thank Him for another day of abstinence & sobriety.  When I wake up tomorrow, with God's help, I will be thankful for another day of abstinence & sobriety.

Lather, rinse, & repeat.  This is how I build abstinence..........little by little, in 24 hour increments, and, before I know it, I've chalked up nearly 3 1/2 years of peace & serenity.  Not that every moment of every day is 'perfect' or without challenge............but every day is certainly better & happier than it was when I was running my life with no help.

For Today: November 19th

How poor are they that have no patience!  What wound did ever heal but by degrees?

William Shakespeare

Sociologists call it “benign neglect.”  What it is, is patience.  If only I can keep myself from rushing about to do something, things generally turn out fine.  I first do what I can, then let go.

The main thing for someone as compulsive as I am is to find something to occupy me while I’m waiting.  This keeps me from wringing my hands and mopping my brow and eventually jumping in to fix things again.

It is positively amazing how well my troubles are resolved when I sit them out.

For Today:  The common cold takes about ten days to run its course, and nothing I can do can alter that fact.  With variations in time, this is true of most of my troubles.

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 Moi? Compulsive?  Holy cow..........if I had 1 ounce of patience, I probably wouldn't be a compulsive overeater to begin with!

I am learning, through the wisdom of the program, patience & perseverance.  Through commitment to my food plan, all SORTS of knowledge comes as a side benefit!

I have a bunch of hobbies to keep me occupied while I wait things out......whether it's a  problem or a craving to overeat...........I can come to my computer and write it out, make a phone call to a fellow compulsive overeater, play a complicated word game (which always does the trick)..........or read some OA literature, clean a closet.......the list is quite long.  

When I actually USE the tools in my toolbox, I can get through ANY difficult situation on earth without overeating to cope.  I run into trouble when I DON'T use the tools that are available to me, or, when I don't lean on God to help me.

For today, I commit to using my tools AND to relying on God to keep me on the straight and narrow.

For today, I will be patient and kind to myself, and if I am not feeling much patience, I will FAKE it until I DO feel it!

For Today: November 18th

If you want to understand others, look into your own heart.

Johann Schiller

If I have no understanding of what makes me think and act as I do, then I can have little understanding of other people’s behavior.  If I do not admit anger, fear, hate and other emotions and steadfastly ignore the reasons for these feelings, how can I maintain balanced relationships with spouse, friend, parent or child---all of whom have similar feelings?

People who practice the twelve step program seldom say, “I’ll never understand So-and-So.”  Having looked into their own hearts, they understand why other people behave as they do.

For Today:  If people’s actions continue to surprise me, it’s time to do another fourth-step inventory.

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After being in this program for a long time, nothing much surprises me.  When someone says Can You BELIEVE That????, I say Yes, I can.  I can believe almost anything these days.

I can go for long periods of time where I'm abstinent and at peace.  And then, out of the blue, a HUGE desire to eat junk food can overtake me entirely.  Can I BELIEVE it? You bet your sweet bippy I CAN.

I can go for long periods of time where I am happy & content, at peace with the world, with a smile on my face and a skip in my step.  And then, out of the blue, I am hit with incredible ANGER and RAGE that can overtake me entirely.  Can I BELIEVE it?  Yessir, I surely CAN.

I am a work in progress. I am never 'finished' with recovery; I am never 'finished' working the steps or living in the moment......for 24 hours at a time. 

When the negative feelings overtake me, I know they are temporary and that This Too Shall Pass.

When the anger & rage threaten to overwhelm me, it's time to look within mySELF and see what's REALLY going on.  

For today, I will be totally honest with myself & I will choose to stay in recovery.

For Today: November 17th

The deepest need of man is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness.

Erich Fromm

If a sense of separateness is endemic to the human condition, how much more keenly do compulsive overeaters feel their apartness!  People eat occasionally for pleasure, to be sociable, the comfort themselves, to pass the time.  We who are food-obsessed try long and hard to be like normal eaters, only to find that we cannot limit ourselves to the occasion; our eating goes on and on, past need, past sociability, and past sanity.

Recovery in OA is based on the recognition that we are not----and never can be-----normal eaters.

For Today:  Yes, I am different from those of my family, friends and colleagues who are not compulsive overeaters.  But there are thousands of people like me in Overeaters Anonymous.

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When I quit fighting the fact that I'm not a normal eater is when I was finally able to SURRENDER the situation to God and allow Him to take over my life.  That means sticking to a food plan which dictates 'normal'...........because there is NO WAY I can determine normal.

It is not my job to make that determination.  It is my job to stay AWAY from the trigger foods that will lead me down the road to a binge.  I am not, nor will I ever BE, a 'normal eater' and that's ok.  It is what it is.  

When I accept the truth is when I stop waging war.


When I recognize my limitations in the food arena, I am relieved of the obsession to binge, purge, diet, weigh myself constantly, and preoccupy myself with my appearance.


OA has allowed me to live a full life, where I am not the center of the universe and neither is my BODY.  My spiritual condition and serenity is WAY more important to me than what I put into my mouth.  My food plan TELLS me what to eat, and all I have to do is accept the terms of that plan.


One day at a time, I can do this.  One day at a time, I will accept the terms of my disease and turn the management of my life over to God.  He does a much better job of handling my life than I do, that's for sure!


For today, I accept the truth; I am different from my friends, family members & co-workers who are not compulsive overeaters.  But I am NOT alone with my situation...........I have many other compulsive overeaters to interact with.........and to help me realize I am NOT alone.

For Today: November 16th

There is no security on this earth---there is only opportunity.

Douglas MacArthur

We who are recovering from compulsive overeating believe that we “never have it made.”  But we also know that each day is an opportunity to begin anew. 

Recovery is for those who want it and are willing to grab hold of every opportunity to achieve it.

There are no guarantees that we will be free of our disease six months or a year from now.  Recovery, like abstinence, is attained one day at a time.

For Today:  OA offers opportunity, not guarantees.
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I have to want recovery in order to go after it...........otherwise, I will not make abstinence my number one priority and I will look for situations TO overeat. 

"Going to any lengths" means going out of my way quite often.  It means staying away from situations I know will be dangerous for me.  It means ignoring off plan food and not sniffing it or eyeballing it because if I do that often enough, I WILL eat it.  And once I let the COE beast out of the cage, he can be impossible to reel back in.


Every day is a new opportunity to commit myself to my program of recovery.  I only have to deal with one 24 hour period of time at once.........I don't project about tomorrow or the next holiday; I take it one day at a time.


Although I was free of my disease yesterday, there is no guarantee that I will be free of it today.  


For today, I will work my program to the best of my ability; I will not feel sorry for myself that I 'can't' eat this or that; I will stay the course and ask God to guide me, every step of the way.

For Today: November 15th

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.

Thomas a Kempis

It is only through the help of this program, and continuously working at letting go and letting God, that I can detach myself from the problems of those I love.  I can best help my mate, my children, my parents and my dear friends by loving them as they are.

It is when I stop trying to make others be what I think they should be that they begin coming closer to their true potential.  This is because, in accepting them as they are, I am clearly changing myself and acting only to fulfill my own highest potential.

For Today:  The influence I have on others by practicing the principles of the program in my everyday life is far more effective than anything I can do or say to change them.

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I've discovered a simple truth: I can't change others, but I can change my reaction to their behaviors.  Some family members have to be taken in small doses.  With others, I have to change the subject when they begin the toxic &  negative talk.  If the conversation gets too bothersome, I suddenly have an 'emergency' that I have to deal with and So Sorry, I Have To Hang Up Now.

I am learning to set boundaries with the toxic people in my life; while I can't change them, I can decide how much time I'm willing to spend with them.  If I internalize their issues and try to 'fix' them, I may wind up overeating because of it.  I can't change the world, but I can change myself, one step at a time.

The purpose of my life is not to please others & be a yes-man.  The purpose of my life is to please God, to work my program to the best of my ability, and to take good care of myself.  

For today, I will practice the principles of the program in my everyday life & lead by example.

For Today: November 14th

Nothing, I am sure, calls forth the faculties so much as the being obliged to struggle with the world.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Struggles with the world take different forms.  Where some people actively engage in combating society’s evils, others fight the battle within themselves.  Compulsive overeating is a struggle with oneself.  Obsession drives its victims to eat, even as they recoil, weeping in their helplessness.

Once the spiritual remedy is found, it can be seen that this kind of struggle, too, calls forth the faculties, sharpening the awareness of danger and fine-tuning the ability to distinguish truth from illusion.

For Today:  Struggles of the past are not to be regretted or ignored, but used to live in freedom.

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When I ask myself that 'should I/shouldn't I' question about food, I am struggling with myself, asking whether I should let my addiction out of its cage, 'just this once'.  If I allow it, the food obsession will destroy me.  It will drive me to eat eat eat, even as I recoil in horror, helpless to stop.

Why would I even consider DOING that?  I am aware of the outcome, it's always the same; yet I still sometimes struggle with the desire.

When I keep in mind the struggles of my past is when I ask God to help me stay the course with my food plan. 

For today, I will keep my beast asleep in her cage, with God's help, and I will not buy a ticket to THAT roller coaster ride.  For today, I choose sanity.