UTAH SOARING
February
2011
Overeaters Anonymous
Calendar
Feb. 4-6
Friday-Sunday
OA Birthday Party: Radisson Westside Hotel
L.A., California. Online registration now
open http://oabirthday.com
February 12
Saturday 10-12 noon
Intergroup business meeting. NEW
LOCATION: Wasatch Commons, 1411 Utah
Street (1605 West) SLC.
February 26
Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
Unity Day: This day recognizes the strength
of the Fellowship worldwide. At 12:30 p.m.
OA members worldwide pause to reaffirm
the strength inherent in OA’s unity.
2011 Newsletter Article Assignments
Send to debra.feldman@comcast.net
Put “OA Newsletter” in the subject line.
Call 801-967-2193 for mailing address.
Due Jan. 31
St Joseph’s Villa, Wed.
step 3, tradition 3, and general recovery
Due Feb. 28
Layton, Wed. step 4,
tradition 4, and general recovery
Due Mar. 31
Park City, step 5,
tradition 5, and general recovery
Due Apr. 30
Logan, Thu, step 6,
tradition 6, and general recovery
Due May 31
Taylorsville, step 7,
tradition 7, and general recovery
Due Jun. 30
All Saints, Fri. step 8,
tradition 8, and general recovery
Due Jul. 31
Healthsouth, step 9,
tradition 9, and general recovery
Due Aug. 31
OA Rocks, step 10,
tradition 10, and general recovery
Due Sep. 30
Intergroup, step 11,
tradition 11, and general recovery
Due Oct. 31
Murray Library, step
12, tradition 12, and general recovery
Tradition Two
For our group purpose there is
but one ultimate authority – a
loving God as He may express
Himself in our group conscience.
Our leaders are but trusted
servants; they do not govern.
So what happens when
you take a bunch of compulsive
overeaters and put them
together in an organization for
the purpose of saving their lives?
After all, we don’t join OA
because we’re healthy or capable
of managing our lives—let alone
playing well with others! The fact
that OA is the last house on the
block can lead to us feeling fairly
desperate, and the stakes can feel
very high for OA to be exactly
what we think we need. This
scenario may sound like chaos
and strife just waiting to happen,
with desperate folks (us!) doing
what we do: grabbing control and
trying to hang on for dear life. Yet
Tradition Two somehow manages
to keep things sane and balanced.
It’s a constant reminder that, oh
yeah, it’s not all about ME. The
same Higher Power who can
restore us to sanity individually
can also assure that our groups
and OA as a whole are able to
give us what we need.
So how does that work? As I
reread Tradition Two in The Twelve
Steps and Twelve Traditions of
Overeaters Anonymous, I was struck
by the emphasis on listening. Steps
Three and Eleven are a real
cornerstone for my recovery
program, and they require me to
really work on listening to HP, to
find out what I’m supposed to do.
And sometimes HP sends me
knowledge of his will through the
words of others. This is exactly how
the second tradition works. Just as
my decisions in my personal life
need to be informed by HP’s will,
our goal as members of OA groups
and service bodies needs to be to
make informed decisions. How? “In
order to reach an informed group
conscience, we…listen to everyone
attentively with open minds. The
purpose of our discussions is to
make sure that the decision reached
by the group takes into account all
pertinent information… [T]he group
will need to take into account
everybody’s needs and ideas. For
this reason, OA groups give all
viewpoints a full hearing—even
minority viewpoints” (p 120,
underlined emphasis mine).
The views expressed in this newsletter are individual and do not represent OA as a whole .
UTAH SOARING
Why don’t we just trust
important decisions to those wise
folks with long-term recovery and
lots of experience with OA
service? Because sometimes
great solutions and suggestions
come from the perspective of a
newcomer, or that person who
has been shy about saying much,
or even that irritating person we
almost wish would just hush.
Remember, the early members of
AA had tried to kick out the guy
who eventually suggested they
include “as we understood Him”
in Step 3!
-Carla KT
Monday Ogden Meeting
Website: www.oautah.org
OFFICERS
Chair: Jim R., 801-359-3386,
oautah.chair@gmail.com (Traditions,
Region 3 Rep.)
Vice Chair: Sircy, 801-884-7640,
oautah.vicechair@gmail.com (Elections,
Group Development Liaison)
Alternate Delegate: Marla 801-560-6155,
oautah.altdel@gmail.com (By Laws, PIPO
Liaison)
Inspiration
The Higher Power
which infuses
each OA group
becomes our life
saver and our
nourishment.
Secretary: Tom M., 801-656-9119,
oautah.secretary@gmail.com (History and
Archives, Communications Liaison)
Treasurer: Melanie, 801-209-0400,
oautah.treasurer@gmail.com (Legal Entity,
Activities Liaison) Please contact Melanie
for information on how to submit 7th
tradition money.
COMMITTEES
Communications
Chair: Natalie M. 801-856-5032,
oautah.comm@gmail.com
Computer/Website: Jim R., 801-3593386, jim.r.utah@gmail.com
Newsletter Editor: Debbie F., 801-9672193, debra.feldman@comcast.net
Newsletter Mailing: Rayola, 801-8424513, rayolag@wmconnect.com
Hotline: Natalie M. 801-856-5032,
oautah.comm@gmail.com
Lifeline Magazine: OPEN
Group Development
Chair: Lorelei, 801-268-1131,
loreleiferre@hotmail.com
Sponsorship: OPEN
Group Support: OPEN
Welcoming: Jan S. 801-968-5971
2
“We have been amazed by how
well the second tradition works in
OA, by what happens when we
become willing simply to serve
the group and let our Higher
Power govern through the group
conscience” (p. 126).
In loving service,
Utah Soaring OA Intergroup
Trusted Servants
Continued on page 3
Page
So does that mean that all decisions
made by a group conscience will be
great? Or that we’re each supposed
to completely agree with them? No
on both counts. At times OA groups
and service bodies have made
decisions they later needed to
rescind. We continue to grow and
learn as groups just as we do as
individuals. And agreeing with each
decision really isn’t the point.
Agreeing to live with the decisions is
the point. This takes us back to the
first tradition of unity—the process
of the group conscience needs to be
trusted and supported. “All we have
to do is the footwork, and we can
trust the outcome to our loving
Higher Power who provides us with
all the resources we need” (p.124).
February
2011
UTAH SOARING
Activities
Chair: OPEN
Activities: OPEN
12 Step Within: Dagmar, 801-6571150
Retreat: OPEN
Convention: OPEN
Public Information/Public Outreach
Co-chairs: Heather F., 801-6940228, Julie A., 801-809-0784,
oautah.comm@gmail.com
Young people: OPEN
Hospitals: OPEN
Public Activities: OPEN
Public Information: Barbara C.,
barbchap812@gmail.com, 801-8565032
February
2011
Serene (Serenity):
1) Clear and free of storms or
unpleasant change
2) Shining bright and steady
3) Utter calm, unruffled
-merriam-webster.com
●
●
●
S
t
e
p
UPCOMING
EVENT
Feb. 26, 2011
(location and time to
be announced later)
UNITY DAY Body Image and
Self Esteem
Workshop
●
s
a
n
d
Website: www.oautah.org
3
●
Page
●
UTAH SOARING
“I’m not a “bad”
person if I have a
slip or go into
relapse; I’m sick
and I have a
disease.”
I am also a recovering alcoholic and
had been attending AA meetings for
3 years when I attended my first OA
meeting in South Bend, Indiana. I
tried to follow the OA directions and
worked with several sponsors and
attended meetings and was
unsuccessful in achieving any
physical abstinence. My binging
progressed and so did my
depression. At this point I entered a
hospital treatment center. I
remembered hearing that treatment
is “discovery” and the OA tables are
my ongoing “recovery”. This was
important to me because I believe
no amount of head knowledge or
insight is going to cure my
Website: www.oautah.org
compulsive overeating -- I never
graduate from the program!
Upon arriving home I asked
someone to be my “food” sponsor
and I also had a “step” sponsor. I
learned I needed to ask for help and
not isolate and use all of the
program tools if I was to recover. I
learned I am powerless over the
“first bite” and turning my food over
to my HP daily and having a food
sponsor “witness” this really helped
me. At this point in my recovery I
sailed a long with 18 months of
abstinence. I kept going back to
meetings and also used the other
tools – abstinence, telephoning,
writing, reading, literature and doing
service.
I felt tremendous amounts of guilt
and shame but continued to go to all
of my weekly meetings and share
honestly about how I was feeling and
how I was compulsively over eating.
I had always heard the slogan “KEEP
COMING BACK” at meetings, but it
didn’t really take on any meaning
until I was in relapse and felt I had
nothing left to do but that. The
support and love I received from my
friends in the program during these
months of relapse was tremendous.
I can’t put into words what it meant
to have them there to tell me that
they loved and accepted me when I
couldn’t love or accept myself.
I am grateful that I had a place to
keep coming back to while in
relapse. No one was standing at the
door and saying, “If you’re not
abstinent today, we don’t want you
here today!” I learned that I am a
worthwhile person whether I am in
or out of the food. I’m not a “bad”
person if I have a slip or go into
relapse; I’m sick and I have a disease.
I am grateful my HP gave me the
willingness to keep coming back to
meetings even when I didn’t want to
Everything seemed to be sailing
along pretty smoothly until one day I
had a really big
disappointment. I was
very angry at my HP and
couldn’t accept His will
in this matter. I slowly
became depressed and
“If you remove your body
got emotionally and
from the truth, when you are
spiritually off-balance,
ready the truth is nowhere to
but kept going back to
be found. But if you continue
meetings. After 3
months of this
to bring your body to the
downward spiral, I dove
truth, then when you are
back into the food. I
ready the truth is waiting
gained weight rapidly
there for you.”
and was even more
miserable than when I
had started OA. I am
-Rozanne, OA Co-founder
grateful I did not take
the first drink of alcohol,
4
The single most important key to my
recovery has been that no matter
what, I “KEEP COMING BACK” to
meetings and the 12-Step program
of recovery. I have been in OAfor
51/2 years * and have had both a
long period of abstinence and a long
period of relapse. I would like to
share some experience, strength and
hope that I’ve gained along my path
of recovery.
even though I was in relapse with my
compulsive overeating.
Page
Keep Coming Back ---It Works!!
February
2011
UTAH SOARING
In 1990 my family and I moved to
California. My relapse continued
and my disease progressed to its
worst. I believe my saving grace
was that I never stopped going to
meetings. If I didn’t keep going to
Compulsive overeating is a disease
meetings, I wouldn’t have seen
of denial. If I don’t go to meetings,
that others do love and
I don’t hear what I need to
accept me when I’m in
bring me out of denial. I am
“…they loved
relapse. Isolation is a
a member of a fellowship,
and accepted
deadly enemy of
and as a member of a
me when I
meetings.
group I don’t quit the
couldn’t love or
membership if I start
I continued to trudge
overeating again.
accept myself.”
through another year of
Meetings are the very thing I
relapse but never stopped
need to help me get back on
going to meetings. After two years
track. If I relapse, it doesn’t mean
of the insanity and despair of
I’ve failed as a member of OA or
relapse, something began to
that OA doesn’t work. I just need
change. I can’t say for sure what it
to walk through it and be at
was and many times while I was in
meetings so fellow members can
relapse I would try to analyze what
love me when I can’t love and
I was doing wrong. I would feel
accept myself. The most important
angry because I felt I was using all
thing is that the only way I can
the tools and was still not able to
recover from this three-fold
be abstinent.
disease (physical, emotional and
spiritual) is to “KEEP COMING BACK
Somewhere in early 1991 I reached
– no matter what!!!!”
the turning point and felt myself
coming progressively out of
-Teresa K.
relapse. Today I am having to
Friday 5:30 pm meeting at All
accept that I am not perfect and
Saints Episcopal Church, SLC
neither is my abstinence. I still
struggle, but I have faith that if I
*Editor’s note: This article was
keep coming back to this program
written in January 1993. In August
and work the tools, my HP will
of that same year, Teresa began
relieve me of my insanity with food
her long term abstinence of 17
and life on a daily basis.
years.
Website: www.oautah.org
Intergroup Representatives
MON 10-11:15 am: Judy F.
fosterio@yahoo,com
MON 7 pm, TGI Monday: Murline,
801-277-8775
murlinesteck@msn.com
MON 7 pm, Ogden: OPEN
TUE 12 noon, Mt. Tabor: OPEN
WED 5:30 pm, St. Joseph: OPEN
THU 6 pm, Layton Baptist Church:
Barbara, 801-856-5032,
barbchap812@gmail.com
THU 6:30 pm, St. Johns, Logan:
OPEN
THU 7:30, Legacy Village,
Taylorsville: Kasey,
kaseyoa@gmail.com
FRI 5:30 pm, All Saints-Foothill: Julie
A., 801-809-0784,
j7abrams@yahoo.com
SAT 8:15 am, HealthSouth: Vicki
SAT 10 am, OA ROCKS, Jan S. 801968-5971,
SAT 4:00 pm, Murray Library, Louise
5
I learned many things because of
relapse, mainly that I am still a
loveable worthwhile human being
whether I am abstaining or
compulsively overeating. I have
learned I need this program no
matter what. I have learned to be
less critical and judgmental of
others in the program who are
struggling. Just because I’m not
using one of the tools doesn’t
mean I’m no longer a member of
OA. The only requirement for
membership is a desire to stop
eating compulsively.
Page
and was binging and vomiting in
the throes of relapse. I remember
reading this quote from Rozanne’s
story in the OA Brown book, “If you
remove your body from the truth,
when you are ready the truth is
nowhere to be found. But if you
continue to bring your body to the
truth, then when you are ready the
truth is waiting there for you”
February
2011
UTAH SOARING
what our age is, or what our
situation is, we who eat
compulsively will find a way to
eat, and will not be able to stop
no matter how many times we
promise ourselves we will, until
we let go.
Then a few months ago I
found myself in the same exact
position as Miranda, eating
chocolate out of the garbage can
instead of in front of my
roommates because that was…
what, better? And I realized then
just how bad my situation
actually was. It does not matter
Website: www.oautah.org
I can admit my imperfections,
and allow myself to be human.
For some, this may be easy; they
may already know their lives are
unmanageable. But for others
who are like me, admitting defeat
is certainly not effortless. If the
Little Engine That Could was a
compulsive over eater, he’d be a
lot like me in terms of step 1.
So whether you are the
engine who thinks he/she can, or
the inexplicably flexible doer of a
free spirited life, step one will
allow you to also let go, to admit
how wonderfully unmanageable
everything is and make peace
with your powerlessness over
food.
Anonymous
The beautiful thing about
OA is that it not only gives me
peace around food, but in every
aspect of my life. I have let go,
and I have stopped trying to
micromanage my life. In doing so,
6
Back in the day of Sex and
the City (the real Sex and the City,
30 minutes of dangerous clothing
and painfully honest narration),
Miranda, a hopelessly cynical
character, makes a chocolate cake
to fill the void she has from being
alone. After eating about half of
the cake, she throws it into the
garbage can to stop herself, only
to return to that garbage can a
few seconds later to continue the
process. When I first saw that
episode I thought it was pretty
ridiculous. What successful, 30
something woman would eat a
cake from the garbage can? The
idea was ludicrous.
“…the more power I
try to have over my
food, the less
manageable my life
is.”
Page
Step One
and
Letting Go
This is what I had the
most difficult time with, “Letting
Go.” Every time I found myself
eating a chocolate something
right out of the pan, and eating
all of it, I’d go to bed
uncomfortable and sickpromising myself the next day
would be different. But the next
day never was different; I kept
giving in to the food. So there it
is, I was out of control and quite
obviously powerless over food.
Step one is undeniably important,
and I still have to remind myself
of it everyday, and know I will
always do so, because the more
power I try to have over my food,
the less manageable my life is.
February
2011
UTAH SOARING
My personal
prayer as I
begin the
Steps
My Sponsor suggested that I
February
2011
me. Help me mind my own business
and trust my loved ones to Your car.
Thank you, God for your
power to change my life. Prepare me
for a new life-one I will achieve by
changing my own thinking “One Day
at a Time.” Hel me apply this new
wisdom to all things in my life. I
must manage my own life and only
mine.
approach the Steps from a
perspective of prayer. She told me
I am free. But my fears let me know I
to read about the First Step in
need to work my program. Racing
Conference Approved Literature and
thoughts-the familiar mental chaos-
then write a prayer. I was so awed
by the thoughts that came together:
signal my life is unmanageable. Let
“I try to take one
day at a time, but
sometimes several
days attack me at
once.”
-Anonymous
me acknowledge this and expose it
so it loses power. God, please care
for me and soften my chaos. Help
me surrender and stop fighting
Dear God,
reality. Help me remember that the
world is in Your hands. Help me live
I admit that I am powerless
over everything—my life is
these principles in every situation of
my day. Help me to change.
unmanageable. I pray to be released
from my compulsion to control. Help
Thank you, God.
me find peace of mind by uniting me
with your power and guidance. Help
me to surrender and find relaxation
-Becky M., Tennessee, Forum, p. 19
AN INDIAN PRAYER
“Great Spirit, May I
not render judgment
upon another until I
have walked for one
moon in his
moccasins.”
-Anonymous
and freedom from strain and conflict.
Help me trust to let go, knowing that
change will begin.
Please prepare me to be
humble, to find spiritual answers
that will lift me. Prepare me for
deliverance, from problems I cannot
cope with alone. God please help me
look closely at my thoughts and
because they are good choices for
Website: www.oautah.org
Page
as is required of me-to make choices
7
impulses, and take only such action
Northern Utah Overeaters Anonymous Meeting List
February 2011
UTAH SOARING
February
2011
Hotline: 801-484-1442
Website: www.oautah.org
Utah Soaring, Northern Utah Intergroup
PO Box 65035
Salt Lake City, UT 84165
DAY
SUN
TIME
12-2 pm
LOCATION
FOCUS
Dan's house @ 1864 Casino Way. (6350 S.) SLC
*1st Sunday of month-call first to confirm
Working the 12 Steps
MON
10-11:15
am
Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church @ 175 S. 700 E. SLC
Big Book, Reading & Writing (OA
and/or AA women)
801-582-5164 Linda C.
MON
6:30-7pm
United Church of Christ @ 2631 E. Murray-Holladay Rd.,
SLC (enter through west door)
NEWCOMER'S MEETING
(baby friendly)
801-913-6825 Dan
MON
7-8 pm
United Church of Christ @ 2631 E. Murray-Holladay Rd.,
SLC (enter through west door)
TGI Monday
OA 12 & 12 Study (baby friendly)
801-913-6825 Dan
MON
7-8 pm
OGDEN-- McKay Dee Hospital Patient Tower entrance4401 Harrison Blvd. Level 1, room 1 (call for location if
meeting falls on a Legal Holiday)
LiteratureOA 12 & 12 Study
801-393-9457 Michele
TUE
12-1 pm
Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church, 175 S. 700 E., SLC
Speak Easy
801-363-9201 Steve
WED
5:30-6:30
pm
St Joseph Villa 451 E. 1940 South SLC
First floor Conference Room--left at reception desk, half
way down the hall.
Variety in Recovery—Speaker on
every 5th Wednesday
801-942-4291 Ellen
THU
6:00-7:00
pm
A Place Called Acceptance
801-856-5032 Barbara
THU
6:00-7:00
pm
6:30-7:30
pm
7:30-8:30
pm
5:30-6:30
pm
Layton Hills Baptist Church, 1322 North Hill Field Road,
LAYTON ---New Meeting--- (call first to be sure meeting
is held the day you want to attend)
St. Luke's Episcopal Church (in the library), Silver
Springs Drive at SR 224, PARK CITY
St. John's Episcopal Church
85 East 100 North, LOGAN
Literature and Sharing
Legacy Village, 3251 West 5400 South, TAYLORSVILLE
(Use the 5400 S. entrance)
OA 12 &12
Topic every 3rd week
All Saints Episcopal Church @ 1710 S. Foothill Dr., SLC
Big Book Study (Speaker mtg. 1st
Friday of every month)
801-560-6165 Marla
HealthSouth Rehab Hospital @ 8074 S. 1300 E. SANDY
(mtg room at entrance--left of front desk).
Steps & Traditions
OA 12 &12
801-967-2193 Debbie F.
801-968-5971 Jan (h)
801-673-2940 Jan (c)
801-359-3386 Jim
FRI
SAT
8:15-9:15
am
SAT
10-11 am
OA Rocks--Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church @ 175 S.
700 E. SLC
OA Rocks
Lifeline/12 & 12 every other month
SAT
10:15noon*
4-5:30 pm
1411 Utah Street (1650 West), Wasatch Commons, SLC
*2nd Sat of the month only
Murray City Library, 166 East 5300 South, SLC
Utah Soaring Business Intergroup
Planning Meeting
SAT
Big Book Study
Provo Area Meetings----New Peace Intergroup---Hotline 435-623-1667
SUN
8:00 pm
Best Western Mountain View Inn, Breakfast Room, (immediately off I15 exit North Springville exit), SPRINGVILLE
435-750-6292
Rebecca A.
801-792-2780 Steve
801-582-0536 (H) Jessica
801-618-6964 (C) Jessica
801-427-1616 Sharon
MON
7:30 am
Call for location. PAYSON
808-398-5823 Bet
435-623-1667 Vicki
WED
Noon
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Library (West entrance) 50 West 200
North, PROVO
801-224-7908 Silvia
801-380-1395 Kelly
SAT
10:30-11:30 am
Springville Presbyterian Church, Library 245 South 200 East,
SPRINGVILLE
Big Book Study
*Maps to every meeting are available on the website: www.oautah.org
Website: www.oautah.org
435-623-1667 Vicki
8
THU
OA 12 & 12 and
Overeaters Anonymous Book
Page
THU
CONTACT PERSON
801-913-6825 Dan