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Big Book

Bad Sponsors

I hate to write the following, but it is a fact of 12-Step life.  Despite your best efforts, more likely than not, at some point in your recovery, one of your sponsors is bound to let you down.  Or worse.  Once again, you must never lose sight of the fact that sponsors are people in …Continue reading →

21
08
Mar

“That Still, Small Voice”

About a year ago, I started “hearing from God.”  Doesn’t that sound so crazy?  Like I think I am actually in communication with The Great Creator?!  If someone had told me the same thing only a few short months ago, I would have been the first to say there was something wrong with them.  After …Continue reading →

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08
Mar

What is “prayer?”

When I first started-out on my “spiritual quest,” I thought that prayer meant what I did when I got on my knees beside my bed and recited something I had memorized in CCD class but barely understood.  Wrong!  I have since learned that it is what I do any time that I talk to God …Continue reading →

16
06
Mar

Sponsors Are NOT Your Higher Power

One of the most difficult lessons for those new to 12 Step programs to learn is the fact that, sooner or later, their sponsors will let them down.  Why?  Two reasons: newcomers tend to put their sponsors on pedestals, and sponsors are only human.  But rather than seeing this as a limitation, try to look at it as …Continue reading →

0
06
Mar

12 Step Meetings Talk About “God”

When I first came into OA, back in 1988, I was a “non-practicing Catholic.”  I actually took pride in that title and felt justified in turning my back on a religion that, aside from the few times I felt caught-up in the choir music, did nothing for me.  At my first meeting, I was not …Continue reading →

21
06
Mar

What are “The 12 Steps?”

The 12 Steps are the instructions on how to break-free from addicition.  In the original steps, they only referred to alcohol, but they have since been adapted to work for any “drug of choice.”  The 12 Steps are taken directly from The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (see “12-Step Links” on the side of this …Continue reading →

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03
Mar

What is “The Big Book?”

“The Big Book” is the book that all 12-Step programs are based upon.  The actual title of the book is “Alcoholics Anonymous,” (which is where the name of the first 12-Step groups came from), but over time it has come to be known as The Big Book.  It was written in 1939 by Bill Wilson.  After …Continue reading →

0
03
Mar

Spoken & Unspoken Meeting Rules

Here is a list of what I consider to be the main “rules of the road” for those of you who decide to check-out some 12-Step meetings.  This is not an “official” list (I don’t think there is one), but rather, it is just a bunch of observations I have made over the years. Anonymity.  …Continue reading →

0
02
Mar

There Are Different Types of OA Meetings

When I first started going to OA, way back in the late 1980’s, all I knew about Overeater’s Anonymous was a hazy memory of a commercial from the late ’70’s showing a person opening and closing a refrigerator door over and over again, and a voice-over asking me if I ate when I wasn’t hungry, or …Continue reading →

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02
Mar

What is a “sponsor” and how do I get one?

A “sponsor” is a person you call and meet with for support.  You choose a sponsor based upon hearing them speak at meetings and seeing something in that person that you would like to have for yourself.  For example, potential sponsors may have lost and kept-off a large amount of weight, or maybe they have conquered an …Continue reading →

4
02
Mar
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