Surrender and Step 1 (Clodah, Lindsey, Erin P.)

I have been a grateful member of OA since June of 2007.  I learned very quickly that I must surrender to a power greater than myself if I wanted to be relieved of my binging and purging.  My ways of controlling and relieving the control with day-long binges were caught in a Groundhog Day cycle from a very young age day in and day out.  OA~ felt like a free fall at times, but it was so often cushioned by the love, compassion, and support of fellows who had walked before me.  I was given the gift of desperation and with that the gift of abstinence.  That said, my life has had many challenges and grief for which I have been so grateful that I had could utilize the steps and the tools of the OA program, as well as the rich community of lifelong fellows.  I am delighted to have the opportunity to share about how surrendering just one day at a time has strung together 13 1/2 years of abstinence from bulimia.  I had tried everything before I tried this as a solution.  Little did I know that OA had so much more to offer me than relief from my obsessions and compulsions.  Today I experience the beautiful Promises of this program and a life beyond my wildest dreams.  Hang in there.  There is always hope.  No matter what.