Readings

For Today:

"'Mad' is the term we use to describe the man who is obsessed with one idea and nothing else." Ugo Betti

"I did not like the term INSANITY. weight problem, yes. But I knew that if I could only find the right diet, the right doctor . . . Like many an addict before me, I had to try 'by every means of self-deception and experimentation' to prove myself 'the exception to the rule.' Until I was ready to give up the excess food, which I thought I needed as much as I needed legs to walk on, nothing could have brought me to OA.
'But we will be restored to sanity' when we are ready.
I'm ready. To live a life of bleak and lonely addiction is no longer for me.
Yes, I am a compulsive o ereater. Admitting it is the first step to freedom.

For today: Am I willing to admit, deep down, that I'm like other compulsive overeaters? There is unimaginable freedom in that admission."

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Voices of Recovery:

"At the very first meeting we attended, we learned that we were in the clutches of a dangerous illness, and that willpower, emotional health, and self-confidence which some of us had once possessed, were no defense against it." OA Second Edition, p.. 1

"What a relief to discover that it wasn't just a matter of willpower! i came to OA in a state of demoralization. I just couldn't get a handle on diet and exercise. I'd quit drinking years before my first OA meeting, and quit smoking soon after I discovered I was pregnant. Surely, I could muscle my way through this one. I understood about taking a leap of faith and surrendering my desire to drink to a power greater than myself. I thought I should be able to handle food on my own. After all, it wasn't a drug. That's what I thought! OA taught me as entirely different perspective on food. I was an addict, and I was as addicted to diets as I was to junk foods. These things affected my mind, body, and spirit in the same way that alcohol had. I had to surrender to this obsessions as well.

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In This Moment

"In This Moment, I speak up.

Growing up in a home where caretaking and enmeshness were the norm, where peace at any price was the unspoken rule, I learned to stuff my feelings."

OMG that is totally me!

Back to the text:

"Today, when a loved one speaks to me in a demeaning or abusive tone, i have choices. In my mind, I sort out the incident and focus on my responsibility, my reaction, my feelings. I ask myself, 'What is my part in this situation? What do I need to do to take care of myself?'

Today, through working the Twelve Steps of Co-Dependents Anonymous, I have found my voice. I no longer stay silent in order to keep the peace. I share my feelings and ask for what I need. I speak up."

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The Language of Letting Go

"Appreciating Ourselves

We are the greatest thing that will even happen to us. Believe it. It makes life much easier." Codependent No More

"It is time to stop this nonsense of running around picking on ourselves.
We may have walked through much of our life apologizing for ourselves either directly or indirectly - feeling less valuable than others, believing that they know better than we do, and believing that somehow others are meant to be here and we are not.
We have a right to be here.
We have a right to be ourselves.
WE ARE HERE. There is a purpose, a reason, and an intention for our life. We do not have to apologize for being here or being who we are.
We are good enough, and deserving.
Others do not have our magic. We have our magic. It is in us."

Oh! I love that sentence.
"Others do not have our magic. We have our magic. It is in us."

"It doesn't matter what we've done in our past. We all have a past, woven with mistakes, successes, and learning experiences. We have a right to our past. It is ours. It has worked to shape and form us. As we progress on this journey, we shall see how each of our experiences will be turned around and used for good.
We have already spent too much time being ashamed, being apologetic, and doubting the beauty of ourselves. be done with it. let it go. It is an unnecessary burden. Others have rights, but so do we. We are neither less than nor more than. We are equal. We are who we are. That is who we were created and intended to be.
That, my friend, is a wonderful gift.

God, help me own my power to love and appreciate myself. Help me give myself validity instead of looking to others to do that."

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