Saturday, February 21, 2009

Tradition 10 - No Opinion, You have got to be kidding!

Tradition 10: Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the OA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

The only person I know who can really express her opinions is none other than Maxine. I love some of her things... some are rather bad, but they do get right to the point! I hope that this cartoon will help you understand more about this tradition.

No opinion on outside issues... let me see, where do I begin? Have you ever been around someone who has an answer for everything whether they were right or not? That is what this tradition reminds me of. Opinions are good when we are trying to make a decision, but when we bring in opinions from others who are not part of our group, then we are walking on ice. For instance, I just had a dog who gave birth to 3 beautiful pups. The pups arrived without any problems for her or the pups. The next day, I had another dog who gave birth to 2 pups. One was born dead and one is having problems because I waited too long to take her to the vet. She had to have a C-section. What would have happened to her had I not called the vet but tried to help her push myself? Or what if I had called my best friend who knew nothing about pomeranian births? She and the pups would have all died! The point I am trying to make is that the vet knew what to do. He had been through this many, many times. However, a friend or someone without that expertise would have not helped me in my decision making at all.

What I am trying to say with this illustration, is that OA is unique. Only those of us who have been within these doors know what works for us and what doesn't. If we base our groups organization according to Weight Watchers, or Jenny Craig, for example, then we have looked for help from others who have not been where we are. Their groups feel that we can lose by just doing the right things. We believe that our food problem is an addiction... they won't understand that. So, when we are trying to make a decision it is important that we stick with OA'ers. This also goes for us using our opinions in other areas. For instance, if I were to attend Weight Watchers, I cannot say to them that OA says.... This is wrong, because they are not OA!

My opinion is my opinion. Even here. I am not Mrs. OA. I am Cindy. I am sharing my thoughts not what OA says. As they say in our meetings... "take what you like and leave the rest". Hope this makes sense to you.

Stay blessed!
Cindy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. Some members in my home group attend Weight Watchers. Although it's a character defect of mine, I can't help but think why would someone need Weight Watchers if they were truly following the OA program? But I know that's a judgement, and recovery is different for everyone but I still can't shake the fact that I see this rivalry between OA and Weight Watchers. I just think that if members are in both, they shouldn't mention Weight Watchers in OA or vice versa. Like you said.

PS: Can I add you to my blogroll?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for blogging and sharing. it's an encouragement!

I'm blogging at:

rachelatonedayatatime.blogspot.com