Third Quarter 2008 Volume 18, Number 3    Page 2 of 2 What's New From WSO Web Links Lifeline Monthly Topics 2009 Strong Meeting Checklist Call for Articles: "Embracing Diversity in OA" Dateminder What's New From WSO New Pamphlet: Is Food a Problem for You? This pamphlet is perfect for use in public-information campaigns. Post it in libraries, leave it in doctors’ offices or place it anywhere prospective OA members might see it. Simple and to the point, it includes the Fifteen Questions, the OA Twelve Steps, members’ testimonials, and general information about OA. You can write your group or intergroup’s contact information in a provided space. Item #750, US$.20 each, plus shipping.* Revised Pamphlet: Treatment and Beyond The Treatment and Beyond pamphlet explains OA’s recovery program and eases the transition from treatment center to OA meeting. It benefits professionals and their clients in eating disorder units. This revised version offers more inclusive language to recognize the various forms of compulsive eating and to portray with greater accuracy what a newcomer might find at a meeting. Item #757, US$1 each, plus shipping.* Strong Meeting Checklist The checklist offers 13 points to consider when assessing the effectiveness of your meetings. It addresses everything from meeting start and end times to avoidance of cross talk and advice giving. Available on the OA Web site and as part of this issue of A Step Ahead. OA Podcasts Another step in OA’s public awareness campaign, the OA podcasts introduce the public to OA and provide continuing inspiration to members. The first podcast introduces the OA program, and the next two feature two OA members telling their recovery stories. More inspirational stories will follow monthly. *Shipping: $3 for orders up to $18. Orders $18.01 to $100, 17% of total. Above $100, 12% of order. Call the WSO for shipping charges outside the US. Top Discover interesting and helpful OA Web-site links in Web Links. OA Podcast #3 — Another OA member tells her inspiring story Strong Meeting Checklist — Evaluate the strength of your meetings Ask-It Basket Archive — Questions and answers from past Lifeline magazines, now with more material and page-number links WSBC 2008 followup — Includes wrap-up report with voting results; responses to delegates’ suggestions; and PowerPoint presentation and brainstorming notes from strategic planning session How OA Changed My Life — “Misguided Children” Ask-It Basket — “Why is it so difficult for the OA membership to support OA with dollars and cents?” BOT meeting minutes — Summary of major decisions made by the Board of Trustees at their May meeting (Links are current when A Step Ahead is published online; however, some pages will be updated during the quarter.) Top Lifeline Monthly Topics 2009 Lifeline is created from OA members’ letters. Monthly topics are suggestions. You may write about any subject important to your recovery from compulsive overeating. Send your letters to Lifeline, PO Box 44020, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4020 or email: info@oa.org. FEATURES: Stepping Out, Service With a Smile, Living Traditions and Taking the Spiritual Path continue. We always need stories related to these themes. Newcomers Corner: Speaking From the Trenches gives newcomers a place to share their OA experiences and concerns. OA Around the World presents a brief history of OA in a country or area, significant accomplishments, and sometimes short pieces from local members. Please send your history today! Generally Speaking (general OA topics) and How OA Changed My Life continue as separate issues. Main Attraction focuses on public information and attraction. DEPARTMENTS: Ask-It Basket, Datebook, For Discussion and Web Links continue. Share It runs only if sufficient material is available. OTHER MATERIALS: Lifeline accepts letters, artwork and photos (no faces, please) for publication. Credit lines and rights to submitted work apply equally to articles, artwork and photos. Submitted materials are not returned. Lifeline may edit articles and crop photos. Lifeline promotes “unity with diversity” regarding the race, nationality, gender, age, physical challenges and sexuality of its writers. Please submit articles at least three and a half months prior to the first day of the month of publication. Deadlines appear in parentheses next to topics. Indicate the topic and month for which the article is intended. Typed letters by mail, fax or email are preferred. Letters must contain the author's name and address, even if the author wishes to remain anonymous in print. Thank you. JANUARY How OA Changed My Life (9/15/08) What is your before-and-after OA story? FEBRUARY What Do We Mean “All Are Welcome”? and Unity Day and My Lifeline (10/15/08) How do you welcome and relate to members whose problems with compulsive eating (overeating, anorexia, bulimia, bingeing, etc.) may be different from your own and who work the program in a different way than yours? If your problem differs, how can you identify with their feelings, addictions, spiritual maladies and physical aspects? How does your group give voice to and encourage members who may be different from the majority of your group? Or, share how your group celebrates Unity Day. Or, how do you share Lifeline in your group and life? MARCH/APRIL Attraction Versus Attractive and What to Say to Prospective Members and How to Twelve-Step (11/15/08) What’s the difference between attraction and attractive? Or, what has proven successful in attracting new members? What should you not say to a new member? Or, share your successes in how to Twelve-Step. MAY Slogans: The Wonderful World of Words and Avoiding the Pitfalls of Cross Talk (1/15/09) Choose your favorite slogan and tell how it works for you. Or, what is cross talk and how can it hurt the group and the individual? How do you discourage cross talk in your meetings? JUNE Service Beyond the Home-Meeting Level and The Joy of Giving: How the Seventh Tradition Enhanced My Recovery (2/15/09) How has service beyond the home-meeting level enhanced your recovery? What strengths did you gain? What weaknesses did you overcome? How has doing service enriched your life? Or, what rewards come to you with a Seventh-Tradition contribution? How can you encourage generosity in others? JULY Generally Speaking (3/15/09) Write on any OA-related topic of interest to you. AUGUST Overcoming Isolation and What Keeps Us Coming Back (4/15/09) What small steps helped you overcome isolation? What were some roadblocks? How is your life different now? Do people respond to you differently? Or, why do you keep coming back after spending years in OA? How has your OA experience changed over the years — either because you have changed or OA has changed? SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER Intimacy and Inner Joy/Being Happy: What’s the Difference (5/15/09) Describe how OA and the Steps helped you overcome problems with intimacy. What is your life like now? Or, is there a difference between inner joy and being happy, and how would you describe it? How has OA recovery contributed to the change? NOVEMBER Step Nine: The Most Memorable Amends I Ever Made and From a Man’s Perspective in OA (7/15/09) Share humor, good feelings or special difficulties you experienced when making your most memorable amends. Or, how does your male gender make your OA experience different? What similarities have you noticed in the experiences of men and women in OA? DECEMBER Surrender to HP: Getting, Keeping and Living It (8/15/09) How did you find your Higher Power? Describe your HP. How do you maintain the relationship? How do you walk the spiritual path in life? How is your life different now than it was before you found a Higher Power? Click here to download a printable version of the 2009 Lifeline Monthly Topics. Attention Service Bodies When reporting local, regional and world service elections or OA news in your newsletters, please use only the first names and last initials of OA members, especially when posting newsletters to your OA Web sites. Your internal news becomes external when posted online; you may inadvertently compromise the anonymity of your fellow OA members. Top Strong Meeting Checklist The Strong Meeting Checklist is part of OA’s 2008 – 2013 Strategic Plan. It is not enough to make the public aware that OA exists and can be a solution to compulsive eating; meetings have to be strong and must function effectively for people to "stay for the miracle" and for OA to continue to grow and be there for those who need it in the future. Consider doing an inventory of your OA meeting using the checklist. Does the meeting start and end on time? Are all attending, including newcomers, greeted and made to feel welcome and accepted? Does the meeting focus on OA recovery through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions? Do we offer our own experience, strength and hope, sharing the solution we have found? Is the group contributing financially to all levels of OA service as per our Seventh Tradition? Are sponsors available and identified at the meeting? Does the group practice anonymity by reminding members not to repeat who is seen or what personal sharing is heard at a meeting? Does the group follow a meeting format? Is only OA-approved literature on display and for sale? Are group conscience meetings held regularly? Are all service positions filled, and is rotation of service practiced? Is the meeting information readily available and the WSO informed of all meeting details and changes so that newcomers and visitors can find our meeting? Are cross talk and advice-giving avoided? Overeaters Anonymous®, Inc., World Service Office www.oa.org • Tel: 1-505-891-2664 • Fax: 1-505-891-4320 6075 Zenith Ct. NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144-6424 USA Mail Address: P.O. Box 44020, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4020 USA © 2008 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved. Click here to download a printable version of the Strong Meeting Checklist. Top The Conference Literature Committee is developing a new piece of literature for consideration by the OA Fellowship. We are issuing a call for articles on how the following aspects of OA diversity affect our disease and our recovery: Cultural Diversity: ethnicity, religion, language Sexuality/Gender Diversity: men’s issues, women’s issues, orientation Life Diversity: ageing, body image, disability, family issues, medical events, pregnancy Program Diversity: manifestations of the disease (anorexia, bulimia, overexercising, weight-loss surgery) and the varying ways we work the program We ask writers to focus on a specific area of diversity. Submission Guidelines: Submission Deadline: January 31, 2009 Length: approximately 500 words Submission venues: Email to jhendrix@oa.org Please put “Diversity Stories” in subject line. Or mail to World Service Office Attention: Diversity Stories P.O. Box 44020 Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4020 USA Please put “Diversity Stories” in story header. OA, Inc., reserves the right to modify or edit all submissions and retains all copyright on submitted materials. The WSO cannot return submissions. Authors must include their full names and addresses. If chosen for publication, articles will include the author’s first name, last initial, city, state and country. Authors may request complete anonymity or anonymity for any of the preceding identifiers. Click here to download a printable version of the Call For Articles. Top DATEMINDER IDEA DAY International Day Experiencing Abstinence November 15 EACH GROUP HAS BUT ONE PRIMARY PURPOSE — TO CARRY ITS MESSAGE TO THE COMPULSIVE OVEREATER WHO STILL SUFFERS. Top Previous page Attention Intergroups: Please inform the WSO whenever you have meeting changes to your directory. A Publication of: Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. P.O. Box 44020 Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4020 USA Phone: 1-505-891-2664 Fax: 1-505-891-4320 E-mail: info@oa.org OA Homepage Registered OA service bodies may reprint articles crediting A Step Ahead and Overeaters Anonymous. © 2008 Overeaters Anonymous®, Inc. All rights reserved.