Service as Recovery
Our primary purpose in OA is twofold: 1) to abstain from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors and 2) to carry the message of recovery through the Twelve Steps of OA to those who still suffer.
Carrying the message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers is the basic purpose of our Fellowship. It is the most fundamental form of service. Any form of service—no matter how small—that helps reach a fellow sufferer adds to the quality of our own recovery. Members who are new to OA can give service by getting to meetings, putting away chairs, putting out literature, talking to newcomers, reaching out for help or connection, and doing whatever needs to be done for the group.
Members can give service beyond the group level in such activities as intergroup representative, committee chair, region representative or Conference delegate. There are many ways to give back what we have so generously been given. We are encouraged to do what we can when we can. “A life of sane and happy usefulness” is what we are promised as the result of working the Twelve Steps. Service helps to fulfill that promise.
Service – what’s in it for us?
1. In carrying the message of recovery through the Twelve Steps of OA to those who still suffer, we are giving. In giving, we receive, and it seems that we invariably receive more than we give!
2. In working cooperatively with others in carrying the message, we counteract our tendencies to isolate.
3. Service supports our abstinence – whether we’re working toward abstinence, or seeking to maintain it, service keeps us connected and helps us to focus on our personal recovery.
4. Each of us has a right and a responsibility to do what we can when we can, giving back some of what we have been so freely given by the Fellowship and other recovering members.
5. Many of us have found that we have to give it away to keep it!
What can OA groups and OA members do for WMI (and themselves)?
– Ideally, send an abstinent representative from the group to WMI meetings.
– Get involved in helping – think, “How can I be of service?”
– Serve on a WMI committee
– Invite sponsees to join you at intergroup meetings or events
– Make time in meetings to hear an intergroup report from the group’s representative
– Sign up for WMI emails
– Volunteer to take hotline calls
– Put your name on WMI’s speaker list
– Put your name on WMI’s sponsor list
– Attend WMI meetings even if you’re not an official representative