Have I ever wished I could lose 10 pounds, 20, 40 or 100 pounds, or more?
Have I ever wished that once I got it off I could keep it off?
Have I ever felt out of step with the world, like a homeless orphan without a place where I really belong?
Welcome to OA. Welcome home.
Have I ever wished my family would get to work or school so that I could get busy eating?
Have I ever awakened first thing in the morning and felt happy because I remembered that my favorite goodies were waiting for me in the fridge or in the cupboard?
Have I ever looked up at the stars and wondered what an insignificant person like me was doing in the world anyway?
Welcome to OA. Welcome home.
Have I ever cooked, bought, or baked for my family and then eaten everything myself so that I wouldn't have to share?
Have I ever wanted to hide in the house without getting cleaned up or getting dressed, without seeing anyone, and without letting anyone see me?
Have I ever hidden food under the bed, under the pillow, in a drawer, in the bathroom, in the wastebasket, the cupboard, the clothes hamper, the closet or in the car so that i could eat without letting anyone see me?
Welcome to OA. Welcome home.
Have I ever been angry, resentful, defiant -- against God, my mate, my doctor, my mother, my father, my friends, my children, the salesperson in the store whose look spoke a thousand words as I tried on clothes -- because I believed they were thin, because I believed they wanted me to be thin, and because I believed I was forced to diet to please them, to shut them up or to make them eat their words and their looks?
Have I ever sobbed out my misery on a dark night because no one loved or understood me?
Have I ever felt that God (if he existed at all) made His biggest mistake when he created me?
Welcome to OA. Welcome home.
Have I ever wanted to get on a bus and just keep going without ever once looking back?
Have I ever thought the whole world was a mess and if they would just think and act like me, the world would be a lot better off?
Have I ever thought that OA people must be a bit nuts? That they might be compulsive overeaters, but I just have a weight problem which I can take care of beginning tomorrow. Have I thought they might be one bite from insane eating, but I am just a little or a lot overweight?
Welcome to OA. Welcome home.
Have I ever told anyone who would listen how great I am, how talented, how intelligent, how powerful -- all the time knowing they would never believe it -- because I didn't believe it?
Have I ever lost all my weight and found that I was thin-unhappy instead of fat-unhappy?
Have I ever worn a mask, or hundreds of masks, because I was sure that if I shared the person I really am, no one could ever love me or accept me?
I am accepted in OA. They offered me a home. - Welcome to OA. Welcome home.
Overeaters Anonymous extends to all the gift of acceptance. No matter who I am, where I am coming from or where I am heading, I am welcome and accepted here. No matter what I have done or failed to do, no matter what I have felt, or haven't felt, no matter where I have slept or with whom, who I have loved or hated -- I am sure of my acceptance. I am accepted as I am today, not as I may be tomorrow. I am accepted as I am, not as I would be if I could melt myself and mold myself and shape myself into what I believe others think I should be.
Only I can decide what I want to be. - Welcome to OA. Welcome home.
OA will help me to work towards the goals I set, and when I am successful I will rejoice with fellow OA'ers. I hold out my arms in love and stand beside others as I pull myself back up and walk on again to where I was heading. I will never have to cry alone again, unless I choose to.
Welcome to OA. Welcome home.
Sometimes I may fail to be all that I should be and sometimes I am not there to give others what they need from me. Accepting imperfections, I will love, accept and help others who have a need. That's what OA is: progress, not perfection.
I rejoice in this effort and in the assurance that I can have a home if I want one. An OA home. Welcome to it.
