Inner Voice

February 2024

Newsletter of New Freedom Intergroup of OA
Step 2: Came to believethat a Power greaterthan ourselves could
restore us to sanity.

I’m A Sponsor” vs.
“I’m Available To Be A Sponsor”• Spiritual Principle:
Hope

The Twelve Step Within (TSW) Committee is committed to helping the still sufferingcompulsive eater who is already a member of OA. We have members who continue tostruggle with abstinence, completing the steps and general recovery. Some members
have difficulty finding sponsors.

Tradition 2: For ourgroup purpose there isbut one ultimate
authority — a loving
God as He may express
Himself in our groupconscience. Our leaders
are but trusted servants;
they do not govern.

In response to this, we have a Sponsor Coordinator who can help members findsponsors. (Contact Hailey at sponsor.nfig@gmail.com.) Another way to find a sponsor
is to contact individuals who identify themselves at meetings as sponsors. Some
members have reported that they have been frustrated because they contact these
individuals only to find out that they are either “full” – have all the sponsees they canaccommodate, or are, for various reasons, not taking on new sponsees at this time.

• Spiritual Principle:
Trust

The TSW committee suggests that if you are a sponsor, but are not taking sponsees
currently, that you state that when you identify yourself as a sponsor in meetings.

Concept 2: The OA
groups have delegatedto World Service
Business Conference theactive maintenance of
our world services; thus,
World Service Business
Conference is the voice,authority and effective
conscience of OA as awhole.

You can say something like, “I’m a sponsor but not taking new sponsees at this time.”
This way, you will not attract a newcomer or the longer-term member who is looking
for a sponsor. While this may seem like a small detail, it comes up among themembership often.

• Spiritual Principle:
Conscience
Promise 2: We will notregret the past nor wish
to shut the door on it.

Current meeting formats include the line, “Will all abstinent sponsors please identify
themselves?” The issue of availability is not addressed at that point. OA has recently added a
Suggested Online Meeting Format, and the text reads, “Will all abstinent sponsors please
identify themselves by raising their virtual hand and putting their contact information in thechat?” It does, however, add in the Suggested Guidelines for Sharing: “Please limit chats toproviding your contact information and sponsorship availability.” (Our emphasis.)
The new formats can be found at https://oa.org/news/new-suggested-online-meetingformat-revisions-to-all-meeting-formats/ where you can find the following variations. Of,
course, members may suggest altering the format(s) regarding the availability issue.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Suggested Meeting Format
Newcomers Meeting: A Leader’s Kit
Suggested Telephone Meeting Format
Suggested Reading and Writing Meeting Format
Suggested Step-Study Meeting Format
Guidelines for a Group Conscience Meeting
Suggested Online Meeting Format (New!)-1NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

Step 2: Through to Hope

Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greaterthan ourselves could restore us to sanity.

They say we all worship something. I worshipped food. It was always on my mind. The “who/how/what/when andwhere” of food was my God. I spent a lot of time there. I did not do anything without considering how/what/when andwhere the next communion with food would be. I went on food pilgrimages late at night. I made donations of my hardearned cash on food that hurt me. For the god of food, I sacrificed my spiritual, physical, and emotional health.
Was I insane? Well, I would say someone who ate off the floor, out of the trash, off other people’s plates – someone
who ate without feeling the food going into her mouth, without being able to recount truthfully at day’s end exactly
what was eaten – someone who kept eating after burning the skin off of the roof of her mouth, after her protruding
stomach felt like it might explode – someone who would suck out the contents of a large frosty cup by holding it up to
her face, covering her eyes so she couldn’t see the road while driving…Someone who would swear she would
never…EVER…participate in this painful, shame inducing, demoralizing behavior again – and then get up the next day
and hit “repeat.” Yeah. I think that is insane.
I can be functional in many parts of my life and still be insane with food.
What did I need to stop the insanity? POWER. A power greater than myself. Once I took that first compulsive bite, I did
not have the power to stop. And unfortunately, as I have stated above, I have a sort of insanity of obsession that drives
my mind toward that first compulsive bite again and again, despite the negative consequences. I acknowledge mypowerlessness over food in Step One. In the chapter titled How It Works in the big book I learned that the root of myproblem is selfishness/self-centeredness. x
In Step Two I “come to believe” in a power that will help me with my self-centeredness. What does my self-centeredness
look like? In Big Book jargon it’s like the “bondage of self”…that I feel everyone is focused on me whether I am thecenter of attention or hanging out in a corner – whether I’m the hero or the class clown – whether I am martyring myself
to help someone else, or guilting someone else into doing something for me…it’s all about me – even when I’ve
convinced myself it’s all about someone else…it’s still all about me. It’s about how I look, or how I don’t look. It’s about
how competent or incompetent I am. It’s about how fat or skinny I am, how appropriate or inappropriate my conversation is, how much I’m exercising, how much I’m eating, how much I’m doing – how much I’m not doing, and on andon…all about me. The HOPE of Step 2 is that as I develop conscious companionship with my Creator/Source/Power, I
become someone who is no longer wrapped up in myself. I can take care of my own needs (work the rest of the steps)
and have time and energy to engage in the service of helping others, to care how others feel. I believe that I have powerfrom the God of my understanding to help me let go of the food problem and join my fellows in recovery.
— LucyMore on Step 1 From Our Region
When I attended my first OA meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1989, I had no clue about the concept of powerlessness. I mean, I knew that I could not control the weather, but food? I thought I should be able to control that! I
walked through the doors of OA at a normal weight, but totally food and body obsessed. My usual method of compulsive exercise had stopped working. I was left with myself, the food, and major depression. Despite my best intentions to
try to put down the sugar in OA, I found I just couldn't do it. Naturally, I beat myself up for my repeated failures.
It was then that my fellow OAs presented some novel ideas to me: I was suffering from the disease of compulsive
overeating – it was NOT a moral issue. I had permission to stop beating myself up! I came to learn that I was powerlessover food because some foods created the phenomenon of craving within me. It was this physical allergy (in my case, tosugar and flour) coupled with a mental obsession that kept me returning to the idea of eating as a solution to life, which-2NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

caused me to no longer have the power to control my eating. I was so grateful to have finally found a community ofpeople in OA who not only understood and related to my dilemma but also provided me with a solution – a way to live
free of the craving for excess food and the misery that accompanied it. Just as my disease is at once physical, emotional,
and spiritual, the solution encompassed these three aspects as well.
The solution to my powerlessness came through applying the twelve steps to my life. This produced a personalitychange that enabled me to stay on a healthy food plan devoid of my binge foods while living a peaceful and useful life. In
working the steps, I relied heavily on building relationships within the OA fellowship by attending meetings, making
phone calls, and doing service. The nine tools of recovery gave me the structure and support that I needed to rigorously
work the twelve steps and apply the twelve traditions in my life.
My journey in recovery these past 35 years has been anything but linear. I have many setbacks and multiple bottoms
with food and depression. As it is often said in the rooms of OA, the one thing I did right was to “keep coming back” andwork the tools and steps to the best of my willingness and ability. A friend of mine said that in this program there are no
failures, only slow successes, and I wholeheartedly agree! Admitting and accepting my powerlessness over food haschanged my life. Today, I know that whenever I struggle with anything at all, including food, it means that there is morework to do, more to surrender, more to learn. Thanks for letting me share. May you have an abstinent and surrenderedday!!!
— Tina S., Florida

Tradition 2: Guiding the Group’s Choices
Tradition 2: For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in ourgroup conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
How does an atheist with a spiritual life accept this tradition? Easily. The words can be translated into my own higher
power, which I call the harmony of the universe. What these words mean is that no one of us is able to boss all theothers, no matter how much we may want to. Were a democracy where the majority does not rule. Instead we talk andtalk until we reach substantial unanimity by hearing everyone’s point of view. We don’t get to dictate food plans, who
can speak at meetings, or “louse this thing up,” as Dr. Bob said to Bill W. “Overeaters Anonymous has its share ofcompulsive complicators. They lard the program with mandatory procedures and other distractions.” to quote January 9
in For Today.
When we have a group conscience and decide on something through substantial unanimity, it can be a mistake. We findthis out through living with the new decision, and if it was a mistake, we’ll see it because the new thing will die of disuse.
People just won’t remember to use it. We can correct it if we see it and learn from our mistakes.
The other traditions and each person’s HP will guide the groups choices.
This tradition frees us from the domination of people who know the ONE RIGHT WAY, whether they are food planners,
people who don’t need any OA literature because they have the Big Book, sponsors who boss and so on.
In my opinion it is very easy to transfer addictions from food to telling others how to live and being right about it. It is
important to remember that the program works differently for different people and is open to everyone who wants tostop eating compulsively. It is also open to people who want to lose weight, but that is not our primary purpose. If you
are eating every feeling every imperfection, every forbidden thought, every need for help, at some point a food plan will
fail you and you may think OA didn’t work, but you have not worked the OA program, which is the Steps.
The Steps teach us acceptance of ourselves and others and lead us in exploring our experiences and beliefs which have
kept us stuck in compulsive behaviors around food. Working and reworking them will eventually free us from thebondage of food and self which will never come from following the food plan of someone else. At least not in myexperience.
— Patience M., Gainesville FL-3NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

2: We will not regret the past nor
Promises: Built In Forgetters Promise
wish to shut the door on it.
After we put down the food, we enter into a new reality unclouded by the fog of overeating. Especially as our systems
separate from sugar, flour, salt and other “red Light” substances, we begin to meet life on life’s terms – without the
crutch of food to blunt our feelings.
As our heads clear, and we begin working the steps, past negative memories will flood back. Without the ability to
medicate these negative feelings with food, we are extremely vulnerable to our disease. Thankfully, if we are half-way
through our Step 9 amends, we will also be benefiting from the previous eight steps.
For me, working Steps 1-8, and engaging in the amends process in Step 9, was vital in my ability to “not regret the past,
nor wish to shut the door on it.” Through work with my sponsor, especially by turning my will and my life over to myHigher Power in Step 3, I was able to see how I had to go through what I went through to reach my bottom. I was once
reminded that pain is the touchstone of all spiritual progress. And those who cannot remember the past arecondemned to repeat it.
I remember my past transgressions – lying, cheating, stealing, manipulating, gossiping, etc. – but I do not stay inmorbid reflection. These memories are there to remind me that the old John will always eat compulsively. My pastvalidates my powerlessness and unmanageability in Step One. However, my past negative memories and “not shutting
the door on my past the memories” will not keep me “sober.”
I love this promise because it shows me the reality that I can turn liabilities into assets. This spiritual program provides
me with the tools to become a new person. The new John is on a food plan. The new John prays. The new John
engages in service to others. And, the new John has cleaned his side of the street through Step 9 work.
But, as with most aspects of our 12 steps, there’s a catch. As stated on page 14 of the AA Big Book, “Simple, but noteasy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-centeredness. I must turn in all things to the Father of Light
who presides over us all.” And while my memories may be painful, I would never wish to forget them. I would not wish
to shut the door on them as they stand vigil against the built-in forgetters of my disease.
— John K.

And More Promises
Here are some other promises in Big Book order with a few comments (see last month for the first installment). Notethat the promises are generally conditional. One needs to work the program for the promises to come true in our lives.
The Doctor’s Opinion“You may rely absolutely on anything they say about themselves.” How many times have we been unreliable in the
midst of our compulsions? Living to eat, vs. eating to live.
“They believe in themselves, and still more in the Power which pulls chronic alcoholics back from the gates of death.”
How’s that for a promise? Believing in myself vs. believing I’ll have another piece of… And since we’re in February, thiscoming to believe in a Power will bring us back from suffering if not the gates of death.
“…once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems hedespaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort
necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules.” Note that the psychic change is a prerequisite.
“From a trembling, despairing, nervous wreck, had emerged a man brimming over with self-reliance and contentment.” I don’t know about others, but I have trembled from ingestion of sugar in the past. I have felt despair and been

-4NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

a nervous wreck. I disagree with Dr. Silkworth about the “self-reliance” part of the promise; after all, he was nothimself an alcoholic. It is reliance on the Higher Power of our understanding.
— Mark W.

Trusted Servants and Committee Chairs (New emails)
GENERAL INFORMATION
Chair
Vice Chair/Bylaws
Treasurer
Secretary
Delegate
Newsletter/Meeting List
Public Info/Prof. Outreach
Young Persons
12th Step Within
Sponsor CoordinatorWebsiteWays and Means

Secretary will forward as needed
Echo G.
561.704.2917
Barbara C.
352.474.1366
Carly B.
303.710.0589
Sandi JC912.464.4231
VACANT—Consider doing service
Mark W.
904.527.3433
Nancy K.
516.286.1888
VACANT—Consider doing service
Georgette P.
352.870.4454
Hailey404.797.5586
Brian B.
904.616.0608
VACANT—Consider doing service

oanfig@gmail.com
chairnfi@gmail.com
vicechairnfi@gmail.com
nfitreasury@gmail.com
oanfig@gmail.com
delegatenfi@gmail.com
innervoicenfi@gmail.com
piponfig@gmail.com
youngpeoplenfi@gmail.com
ghabanero56@yahoo.com
sponsor.nfig@gmail.com
websitenfi@gmail.com
wandmnfi@gmail.com

Upcoming Service Rotations for 2024:
Per our bylaws, this year will see official elections for the following positions, with nominations
opening in October for a December election:•••

Vice Chair
Secretary
Delegate.

The Chair will also be looking to appoint committee chairs for the following committees:•••

Bylaws & Electronic Documents
Newsletter
WebsiteCurrently, we have incumbents in all those roles except for Delegate. Per our bylaws, no one may serve more than two
consecutive terms (total of 4 years consecutively), which means that we have two positions up for election/appointment that cannot continue to be fulfilled by our current volunteers as they will have hit the 4-year mark by the end of2024. These positions are:••Vice Chair – Incumbent: Barb C. This is an elected position that supports the intergroup through a variety ofservices, conducts business meetings and otherwise fills the position of Chair if the Chair is absent, maintains
the meeting lists and event calendar, and performs other duties as assigned by the Policy and Procedures
manual. She has also been serving as the interim Bylaws & Electronic Documents committee chair.
Newsletter Committee Chair – Incumbent: Mark W. This is an appointed position that prepares our monthly
Inner Voice newsletter. This can consist of collecting articles from NFI members and OA approved literature,
editing documents, overall organization of the newsletter, and working with the secretary for distribution.

If you are interested in giving service in any of these positions, I highly recommend reaching out and requesting toshadow the incumbent member and otherwise working with them to understand what the role entails andrequires. Also be sure to review our bylaws and policy and procedures manuals, as they are the official guides towhat each position requires and what the duties therein are.

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Highlights of the January NFI Business Meeting:(Note: These are NOT the official minutes; they are only a recap of what was discussed. Official minutes are released
after changes and approval in the next month’s business meeting.)
New Freedom Intergroup business meeting was held January 13. Each meeting is welcome and encouraged to send
two voting members, and as many observers as desire to attend. The meeting is always the second Saturday of themonth (unless otherwise decided) and runs for one and a half hours. Thus, the next business meeting is Saturday,
February 10 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am by Zoom. (Meeting ID: 872 7218 1719, Password: 883350).
Highlights of what was covered at the January business meeting:Service Opportunities:•••

We need to fill the following service positions: Delegate, Parliamentarian, Young Persons subcommittee chair,and Ways and Means chair. Other committees also need volunteers to provide service.
We’ll be hosting a Big Book Retreat at Marywood on November 1-3, 2024. There will be many opportunities togive service as we plan for this event and at the event itself. If you are interested in being a part of the planningcommittee, please reach out to Nancy K. Expect more details soon! And please continue to be on the lookout for
more announcements and information about this!
In August of 2025, the World Service Convention will be held in Orlando, FL. While NFI is not officially sponsoringor hosting this event, ANYONE is welcome to give service for it! If you are interested in helping with planning orotherwise volunteering, please contact Susan B. by email at chair@oaregion8.org

Other Items of Note:
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All meetings are to let Chair know about changes in format. Thank you to those who sent us updates thismonth! They should be reflected on the website and meeting list.
NEW PO BOX!!!!!! The PO box for NFI is now: PO Box 31072, Savannah, GA 31410
The intergroup voted and unanimously agreed to move forward with signing the contract to reserve and rent
space at Marywood for a Big Book Retreat to be held November 1-3, 2024. Expect future updates from theplanning committee here. For now, please save the date!
Welcomed two new intergroup representatives from St. Augustine’s Face-to-Face Monday meeting, and theintergroup is going to work to get literature and materials to them (we had a new meeting startup kit that wasnever used, so rather than buy a new one, we will transfer this one). Make sure to look for the article in thismonth’s Inner Voice highlighting this new meeting!
Discussed the possibility of NFI holding our own Zoom security workshop, but at this time we do not havesomeone who is available to lead this. If you are interested in taking the lead on such a workshop, please let
Echo G. know at chairnfi@gmail.com-7NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

Events from All Over933

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More from Region 8
A new way to carry the message!
Region 8 announces an excellent resource page with links to valuable OA information tobenefit newcomers, returning and current members. Maybe even the "old timers."
Have you read the appendices to Overeaters Anonymous, Third Edition? They include writingson The Role of a Plan of Eating, A Disease of the Mind, A Disease of the Mind, A Disease of theBody, A Disease of the Spirit and more.
People may scan this QR code (point your smart phone’s camera at the QR code and it will pop
up a link) and connect to the Region 8 resources page. Please feel free to print this informationand pass around in face-to-face meetings or insert into a visual format for virtual meetings.
Check it out — Pass it on!

-14NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org

rot

Where are yourdonations going?
According to our Seventh Tradition,
we are self-supporting through ourown contributions. To donate
directly to Intergroup, write a checkmade payable to ‘NFI’ and mail to:
OA NFI, PO Box 550842, Jacksonville,
FL 32255; or log onto oanfig.org andscroll down to the ‘donate’ button.
You may pay by PayPal or credit card.
When you contribute your 7th
Tradition donations, if you indicate
your group number, the donation
will be recorded for that specificgroup. When we do not have a group
number to work with, we may
include the donations as unspecified.
Each 9, NFI tallies the groupdonations and sends 10% of the total
to Region 8, with an additional 30%
to the World Service Office.
Donations sent directly to World
Service Office do not reflect in ourgroup donations total.

Articles printed in this newsletter reflect the opinion of each individual OA member and do not represent OA as awhole. Intergroup meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month. The deadline to submit articles is the 20th of the month
before the Intergroup meeting. Articles may be edited. When submitting articles, please include your name andphone number and whether or not you would like your name printed. This newsletter may be reproduced andenjoyed by other 12-steppers without written permission. If you would like to submit articles and/or comments, or if
you would like to receive the Inner Voice in color as a pdf, send your email address to the Newsletter Chair at
innervoicenfi@gmail.com.

-15NEW FREEDOM INTERGROUPPO Box 550842 • Jacksonville, FL 32255-0842 • Email: oanfig@gmail.com • Website: www.oanfig.org