Sayings, Slogans and Acronyms

Abstinence is the most important thing in my life, without exception.

Acceptance is the answer… AA Big Book, p.417

Act as if…

Am I around the program or in the program?

Better is enough.

Bring the body and the mind will follow.

But for the Grace of God.

Do the next, right thing.

Don’t give up until the miracle happens.

Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. Don’t compare.

Easy does it — but Do it!

Easy does it. [Big Book, p.357]

EGO = Easing God Out

Expectations = Resentments under construction

Expectations are premeditated resentments.

F A I L U R E - Am I setting myself up for FAILURE [Fearful, Arrogant, Insecure, Lonely, Uncertain, Resentful, Empty]?

Failure is success on the instalment plan — if I learn from it.

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

Fake it till you make it.

Fall in line with the force of heaven; it is the force of heaven to accept and endure.

First things first. [Big Book, p.357]

Floss and brush after every meal.

Food is not your friend. You have plenty of other friends and interests.

Food thoughts are just thoughts. You don’t have to act.

Forgiveness is letting go of a better past.

G.O.D. - Go outdoors!

God will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it.

HALT (Don’t get Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired).

Happy, joyous and free (Big Book, p.133)

Help is only a phone call away.

Holding a Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

Honesty, openness, willingness (HOW) [Big Book, p.549]

Hope is the risk that must be run.

I can expect only to get better at this, not control it.

I can’t. God can. I think I’ll let God.

I can't be craving and grateful at the same time.

I don’t think less of myself, I think of myself less.

I never let go of anything that didn’t have my claw marks all over it.

I won’t starve to death between meals.

If I have a problem and eat over it, then I have two problems.

If I work on my weight, I lose my recovery.  If I work on my recovery, I lose the weight.

If not this, then something better.

If you can be humble, you’ll learn faster.

If you do what you have always done you will get what you have always gotten.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

If you have one foot in yesterday and one in tomorrow you will pee all over today.

If you like everyone you’ve met in OA, you haven’t been to enough meetings.

If you pray, don’t worry. If you worry, don’t pray.

It is none of my business what someone else thinks of me.

It’s about the food until it’s not about the food.

It’s not what you’re eating, it’s what’s eating you.

Just for today

Keep it simple.

Keep your recovery first to make it last.

Let go and let God.

Listen and learn.

Little strokes fell giant oaks.

Live and let live.

Look for my Higher Power in all things.

Love God in all things; love God above all things.

Meeting makers make it.

My character shows as I respond to difficulty.

My Higher Power is whatever I turn to in a crisis.

Nothing tastes as good as abstinence feels!

OA is not for those who need it, only for those who want it.

One compulsive bite is too many and 100 bites are not enough.

One Day at a Time.

One is too many, one thousand is not enough.

Pick three tools.

Plan the action, not the outcome.

Progress not perfection [Big Book, p.60]

Recovery = a lifetime of work. That’s why we’re given a lifetime to do it.

Release what does not bless you.

Repetition is nature’s only form of permanence.

Screw guilt.

Serenity is a feeling of stability within.

Service is slimming.

Share it, don't wear it.

Simple, but not easy. [Big Book, p.14]

Sobriety is not about getting sober, it’s about staying sober.

Spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. [Big Book, p.60]

Sponsors carry the message — not the person.

Stay put and act in my own best interest.

Suit up and show up.

Sunlight of the Spirit (Big Book, p.66; see also p.12 "I stood in the sunlight at last")

Sweep my side of the street.

Take what you like and leave the rest.

The 12 Steps: Trust God, clean house, help others, pray.

The steps keep us from harming ourselves, the Traditions keep us from hurting each other.

The best things in life aren’t things.

The disease is physical. The cause is emotional. The cure is spiritual.

The elevator is broken. Use the Steps.

The sooner I surrender, the better.

The thing is, usually we’re wrong anyway; and even when we’re right, it’s not forever.

The two ways to learn are the hard way and the harder way.

The way to ask for help is to say, “I need help.”

There is no situation so bad that a compulsive bite can’t make it worse.

Think, think, think!

This too shall pass.

This, too shall pass!

Trying is dying.

We’ll love you until you learn to love yourself.

What other people think of me is none of my business.

When I stopped living in the problem, the problem went away.

Worry prevents recovery.

Would I rather be right — or happy?

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery — stay in today.

You are never too late unless you miss the closing.

You can’t do it alone, but only you can do it.

You can't think yourself into a new way of acting, you have to act yourself into a new way of thinking.

You hit bottom when you stop digging. [Big Book, p.325]