God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
I am a compulsive overeater. No matter how long I am abstinent, I will still be a compulsive overeater. I can't stop being a compulsive overeater any more than I can wake up ten years younger or six inches taller.
The courage to change the things I can.
I don't have to let my disease be fatal. I am going to be a compulsive overeater no matter what, but I can be an abstinent compulsive overeater. Yes, it takes courage to become abstinent in a world that has such a poor understanding of the disease, but this is something that I can change.
And the wisdom to know the difference.
I needed a flash of wisdom to see that it was possible to change myself. It took wisdom to see that having an eating disorder did not mean that I was doomed to be forever gorging myself to death. I didn't have to live in that constant state of compulsive overeating torture. I could choose life. And I have.
[Adapted from pages 18-19 of Living Sober.]
Showing posts with label A New Beginning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A New Beginning. Show all posts
Friday, March 1, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Disease of More
"'When you eat one, you want more,
then two, then three, then pretty soon four.'" - A New Beginning, page 4
I heard at meeting once that we are suffering from a disease of more. We want more food, more happiness, more attention, more perfection, more love, more respect, more more more. But one thing I desperately wanted more of was peace and serenity, and I knew that there was no way for me to reconcile that desire with the desire for more food. So the food had to go. But that was easier said than done!
One of the biggest impediments to my abstinence, however, was always the fact that I could see others eat sugar and fast food and pizza and all those other things I loved with impunity. But Dr. Bob worded it best: "I used to get terribly upset when I saw my friends [eat junk food] and knew I could not, but I schooled myself to believe that though I once had the same privilege, I had abused it so frightfully that it was withdrawn. So it doesn't behoove me to squawk about it for, after all, nobody ever had to throw me down and pour [sugar] down my throat." - The Big Book, page 181 (Dr. Bob's Nightmare)
then two, then three, then pretty soon four.'" - A New Beginning, page 4
I heard at meeting once that we are suffering from a disease of more. We want more food, more happiness, more attention, more perfection, more love, more respect, more more more. But one thing I desperately wanted more of was peace and serenity, and I knew that there was no way for me to reconcile that desire with the desire for more food. So the food had to go. But that was easier said than done!
One of the biggest impediments to my abstinence, however, was always the fact that I could see others eat sugar and fast food and pizza and all those other things I loved with impunity. But Dr. Bob worded it best: "I used to get terribly upset when I saw my friends [eat junk food] and knew I could not, but I schooled myself to believe that though I once had the same privilege, I had abused it so frightfully that it was withdrawn. So it doesn't behoove me to squawk about it for, after all, nobody ever had to throw me down and pour [sugar] down my throat." - The Big Book, page 181 (Dr. Bob's Nightmare)
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