Showing posts with label Anonymity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anonymity. Show all posts
Friday, April 11, 2014
Donor Organ
We are like recipients of a donor organ. Ours was defective so we needed a new one. The only catch is that we need to constantly be taking medicine to keep our bodies from rejecting our new organ. In fact, we have nine medicines we need to take: 1) a plan of eating, 2) sponsorship, 3) meetings, 4) telephone, 5) writing, 6) literature, 7) action plan, 8) anonymity, 9) service.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Anonymity
"It is essential that all of us understand and respect anonymity if OA is to survive and we are to find recovery here." - The Twelve steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, p. 199
Among the "rules" of OA is that we maintain anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and television. It also means that "I don't place myself above or below anyone else. It reminds me that we are all equal. It tells me that my job is of no importance. What counts is that we are both compulsive overeaters trying to recover through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous." - Voices of Recovery, p. 362
When I first came into OA, I just nodded and passed on the issue of anonymity. I figured, "well, it may be embarrasing for people to be in these meetings, so promising anonymity is a good way of letting people join in." But the concept of maintaining anonymity in the media boggled my mind. I understood that we could not promote OA, or be spokespeople for OA because this is a fellowship that has no leaders, only people who are serving.
Recently I had been thinking about my grandsponsor. He lost over 350 pounds, and has kept that weight off for at least 3 years I know of, by eating what amounts to El Pollo Loco twice a day every single day. He is a handsome man, tall and slender. It occurred to me that if he went to El Pollo Loco, he could very easily become their Jared the Subway Guy. The press would eat it up! He could make huge amounts of money as a spokesperson for the restaurant! Why doesn't he?
And then I thought about it further. Say he does go through with it. Say he becomes the spokesperson for El Pollo Loco. When the details of his recovery come out under the media attention, it will become apparent that he is a member of OA. This will drag OA into the media. While this will help other sufferers discover the fellowship, it also will bring in a lot of people looking for a quick fix. Meetings would be flooded, including by people from the media. It could disrupt other people's recovery. But much worse on a personal level - my grandsponsor would become a poster boy for OA. This would place him above other compulsive overeaters in the program.
My grandsponsor has his own sponsor. He is working this program one day at a time just like everyone else. Were he to go on and "out himself" to the media, he suddenly would be placing himself above the other OA people. This would make it difficult if not impossible for him to continue working his program. The need for anonymity isn't just to protect the program, and those who feel uncomfortable with others knowing of their participation. It also protects the person who is seeking the spotlight.
Among the "rules" of OA is that we maintain anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and television. It also means that "I don't place myself above or below anyone else. It reminds me that we are all equal. It tells me that my job is of no importance. What counts is that we are both compulsive overeaters trying to recover through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous." - Voices of Recovery, p. 362
When I first came into OA, I just nodded and passed on the issue of anonymity. I figured, "well, it may be embarrasing for people to be in these meetings, so promising anonymity is a good way of letting people join in." But the concept of maintaining anonymity in the media boggled my mind. I understood that we could not promote OA, or be spokespeople for OA because this is a fellowship that has no leaders, only people who are serving.
Recently I had been thinking about my grandsponsor. He lost over 350 pounds, and has kept that weight off for at least 3 years I know of, by eating what amounts to El Pollo Loco twice a day every single day. He is a handsome man, tall and slender. It occurred to me that if he went to El Pollo Loco, he could very easily become their Jared the Subway Guy. The press would eat it up! He could make huge amounts of money as a spokesperson for the restaurant! Why doesn't he?
And then I thought about it further. Say he does go through with it. Say he becomes the spokesperson for El Pollo Loco. When the details of his recovery come out under the media attention, it will become apparent that he is a member of OA. This will drag OA into the media. While this will help other sufferers discover the fellowship, it also will bring in a lot of people looking for a quick fix. Meetings would be flooded, including by people from the media. It could disrupt other people's recovery. But much worse on a personal level - my grandsponsor would become a poster boy for OA. This would place him above other compulsive overeaters in the program.
My grandsponsor has his own sponsor. He is working this program one day at a time just like everyone else. Were he to go on and "out himself" to the media, he suddenly would be placing himself above the other OA people. This would make it difficult if not impossible for him to continue working his program. The need for anonymity isn't just to protect the program, and those who feel uncomfortable with others knowing of their participation. It also protects the person who is seeking the spotlight.
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