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Serving OA in Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts  


January 2015

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In This Issue
Start the New Year with a New Journal
Power and Powerlessness
Step One
Treasurer's Report
Share Your Story

Meeting List

 

* Please call ahead to verify meetings are taking place, especially during holidays. 


Ocean & Bay Intergroup

Next Meeting: 
Tuesday, January 6     

We meet on the first Tuesday of each month and all are welcome. Check it out
  • Literature Sales 7:00-7:30 pm
  • Intergroup Meeting 7:30-8:30 pm 
St. Patrick Catholic Church, 2068 Cranston Street, Cranston, RI 02920.


Intergroup Board
CONTACT US  
Ocean & Bay Email

Jay, Chair

Natalie, Vice Chair

Susanna, Treasurer

Tina, Recording Secretary  

Mission & Vision
Ocean & Bay Intergroup is dedicated to supporting individuals in need of recovery from compulsive eating (e.g.: overeating, bulimia, anorexia) through carrying the OA message and empowering all meetings within the Intergroup. 

 

Strategic Goals 
1. Help members strengthen their personal recovery 
2. Increase the number of sponsors 
3. Increase the number of newcomers 
4. Increase the retention of newcomers 
5. Help those in relapse 
6. Inspire people to give more service 
7. Increase outreach activities, including outreach to members and healthcare professionals 

 

 

"As a tool, a plan of eating helps us abstain from compulsive eating, guides us in our dietary decisions, and defines what, when, how, where and why we eat."

One of the best things about a food plan is that regardless of the season or the kind of day I am having, my food plan stays the same. I don't have to wait for a new year or new week to begin a new diet. What a relief! The old stress of trying to maintain my willpower is behind me.

 

If I am working my program on a daily basis, following a healthy food plan, and connecting with my Higher Power, there is no need for me to make a resolution on January 1. Instead, I recommit to following God's will for me--one day at a time--and that includes staying abstinent.

 

My recovery is without a doubt, the most important aspect of my life, and having a plan of eating helps me implement abstinence. I can bear witness that using a plan of eating and the Twelve-Step Program of OA have saved my life...and my sanity.

 

"This tool helps us deal with the physical aspects of our disease and achieve physical recovery. From this vantage point, we can more effectively follow OA's Twelve-Step program of recovery and move beyond the food to a happier, healthier and more spiritual life."

 

Happy New Year!

 

In humble service, 

"As Always"
Kara 

Start the New Year with a New Journal
    
This 90-day journal features left-hand pages for daily writing, recording your food plan, and listing gratitudes; right-hand pages are dedicated to evening reflection and 10th Step review. Also includes morning and evening prayers and Twelve Step inspiration. Wire bound 5� x 8�.

Only $15 | Available through Ocean & Bay Intergroup
Power and Powerlessness

My sponsor asked me to write on these two questions:

1. "How powerless were you in your active addiction?" I thought I had the power to choose. To choose how much to eat, to choose what to eat, and when, and how to burn it off. I thought I just needed more power (willpower) and that was my only problem. I was fighting as hard as I could but it wasn't hard enough and I was completely exhausted in every way: mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

 

2. "How powerless are you today?" I am just as powerless today as I am every day. I now understand that powerlessness is an opening up, a letting go of the fight and the struggle. By saying I am powerless, I am remembering that I am a conduit for the energy and force of the universe, which is love. My own human, imperfect, addict self gets in the way of the universe's energy and starts messing with the food if I don't remember that I am powerless. Willpower is the opposite of god. When I am powerless and I am open to that energy taking care of me, I don't need the food or the food behaviors at all. When they are calling, it's because I'm fighting something all on my own and I need to open up by being powerless.

 

-Jessica K.

Step One
We admitted we were powerless over food--that our lives had become unmanageable.

I'm so grateful that as my time in this program lengthens, and my understanding of the Steps deepens, I understand myself to be more and more powerless. My powerlessness would have made me quite angry about a year and a half ago before program, but now I understand that it is a blessing for me to admit that I'm powerlessness. My admission is a strength, not a weakness, like the ego insists. I can now be free of this disease and all the other compulsive behaviors over which I am powerless.

 

The peace and serenity that the Steps bring are not possible if I'm insisting on being willful and able to handle life on my own, certain that with a little more effort on my part, I can get it right. When I am in a full-on willfulness mode, I'm trying to control whatever comes my way, but whatever that is inevitably keeps slipping through my fingers. Sometimes a big mess results, like if I've hurt or angered someone. When I'm trying to control people, places and things, I'm usually depressed and isolated, or I'm wrapped up spending time with people that nourish me or bring me joy.

 

The pain of feeling this off-center is always what brings me back to Step One. I never thought I'd say I was grateful for pain but I can honestly and exuberantly say that, yes, I'm grateful for the pain that keeps me heading back to Step One. This awareness becomes the foundation on which I stand to keep moving through these miraculous steps and keep striving for a life that is in alignment with my higher self/God/intuition/love.

 

- Anonymous

Treasurer's Report
Our  Seventh Tradition states that OA is fully self-supporting, accepting contributions only from OA members. Thank you for your generosity that allows us to continue our shared mission to carry OA's message of recovery.

January Treasurer's Report

What does OA do with your contributions?
Share Your Story
    
Your recovery is important and we invite you to share it. Consider submitting something you've written for publication in our Ocean & Bay newsletter. You can inspire others with your experience, strength and hope by emailing us at oceanandbayoa@yahoo.com.
Ocean & Bay Intergroup 
P.O. Box 41273, Providence RI, 02940
Tel: 401-438-1301 | Email: oceanandbay@yahoo.com