" RECOVERED vs RECOVERING"

In the rooms of OA (ZOOM or otherwise) we hear, Hi I’m Jill, I’m a compulsive overeater.  Other greetings include Hi I’m Jack I’m a recovering compulsive overeater.  A third salutation that is uttered is Hello my name is Fred, I’m a recovered compulsive overeater.

When I first heard the adjective “recovered” I was a combination caught off guard, stunned, and confused.  I said to myself, “We are recovering and are never recovered,” because that meant cured in my mind. I knew I would always be a COE.

Today, I’m one of those members who describes myself as recovered.

The first time I heard someone use this descriptor was at the Saturday morning speaker’s meeting @OAKS. The speaker was one of about eight recovered COE’s that had come from South Jersey Intergroup to speak at our meeting.  I approached the speaker afterward and questioned her use of the word. We chatted about it and I was drawn in to what she said.

She had strong recovery, based on her story.  She was attractive, not only because of a trim body, but more so in the way she spoke, what she said and her eyes and affect which were peaceful, serene and communicated that she was comfortable in her skin.

My most recent OA sponsor took me through the steps in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.  It was an amazing experience – in which I became transformed by the power of the BB which opened up what had been a blocked channel to my Higher Power. By enlarging my spiritual life and living in Steps 10, 11, and 12 I was recovered as defined in the last paragraph on page 84 of the BB continuing onto page 85.

Going forward, the use of the word recovered vs recovering will be debated for many years I believe in both the AA and OA rooms. My experience is that I can continue living in a recovered state, and to do so happily, as long as I continue do the work necessary to sustain it.  

   - Susan A.