I had a bit of a rocky start to my five days in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From the time I left New Orleans we had a rough ride. Had to stop in Dallas to pick up and let off, which was a rough stop there. When we touched down in Albuquerque the plane was hit by wind shear and we had to go back up. The pilot did a great job in getting us down safely. It took awhile but I finally stopped shacking and got on with the program.
I checked into the Hotel and registered for conference and then had lunch. After which I went to the end of a workshop on Sponsoring. And then was able to take in a full workshop on Concepts: Guide for All Who Serve.
I set in on the Board of Trustee Meeting, which was interesting, but not yet very clear to me on how things work, but it was a good start.
After dinner outside of the hotel, I went to a workshop on All About Conference, which gave me a view of what would go on in the next few days.
The next morning I was up bright and early. Went to Breakfast and had time to go to an OA Meeting before the FORUM: Celebrating Recovery. The 20 questions and answers will be posted on the OA Website.
On Wednesday the committee meetings started. I am on the Youth in OA Committee. It is a new Committee so there will be a lot of work to define and decide what is to be done. So far there are 3 subcommittees. The first one is literature and the other two are 6- 17 year olds and 18-25 year olds. There will be some legality problems to check into with the 6-17 year olds. I have already heard some interesting things going in other IG’s that may be applicable to OA as a whole. We are working on the statement of purpose and established norms and expectations of the committee members.
After the committee meeting we broke for lunch and had time to meet our Mentors, however, my mentor was delayed and I didn’t get to talk to her until the next day.
After lunch we went back to the committee meetings. This time we elected officers for the committee and started brain storming some ideas. I am looking forward to working on this project.
For dinner each Region had a dinner for the delegates belonging to their region. Region 8 had a good showing of delegates. It was nice to see faces that I have become familiar with through going to the Regional Assembly and Convention.
That evening there was a workshop on Parliamentary Procedures and then a Literature Q&A; both of which were informative and helpful for the days to come at the conference.
Thursday the Business Meeting started. Serenity Prayer was said and reading read and introductions made.
The first business was the Credential Report: There were 16 Trustees, 171 Delegates and 2 Alternates for 187 eligible to vote.
Standing Rules were approved. Then two motions were voted on for the Standing Rules. The amendments were then voted on and adopted.
The Chairman of the Board then brought forth the Consent Agenda. Nine of the items were taken off the agenda and five were put on the agenda. The Consent Agenda was then voted on and adopted. This left a lot of work to be done.
The easiest way to go with the list of Motions is as they are in the binder we were given.
Proposal Item A-A Motion: Move to grant the Conference Seal of Approval to the revised pamphlet, Recovery Checklist was adopted.
Proposal Item A-B Motion: Move to remove the Conference Seal of Approval from the pamphlet If God spoke to OA and discontinue its production and sales. This motion failed because it was thought that there were still enough sales to keep it.
Proposal Item A-C Motion: Move to grant the Conference Seal of Approval to the pamphlet,
A Common Solution: Diversity and Recovery. This was adopted.
Proposal Item A-D Motion: Move to grant the Conference Seal of Approval to the revised pamphlet, The Tools of Recovery. This was adopted.
New Business Motions were A, B, C, J, K, L were adopted. New Business Motions D, E, F M failed. The most exciting one was K, which was to Move that the Overeaters Anonymous Fellowship bestow the title of founder to Rozanne S.
The Bylaw Amendments that were adopted on the Consent agenda were: 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20 & 21. The others that were then passed were: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 17 and 19 after is had been split into two separate parts.
Abstinence is now defined as: “Abstinence in Overeaters Anonymous is the action of refraining from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors while working towards or maintain a healthy body weight.
Spiritual, emotional and physical recovery is the result of living the Overeaters Anonymous Twelve-Step program.”
Also Action Plan has been defined in The Tools of Recovery. “An Action plan is the process of identifying and implementing attainable actions, both daily and long-term, that are necessary to support our individual abstinence and emotional, spiritual and physical recovery. While the plan is ours, tailored to our own recovery process, most of us find it important to work with a sponsor, fellow OA member and/or appropriate professional to help us create it. This tool, like our plan of eating, may vary widely among members and may need to be adjusted as we progress in our recovery.
For example, a newcomer’s action plan might focus on planning, sopping for and preparing food. Some members may need a regular fitness routine to improve strength and health, while others may need to set exercise limits in order to attain more balance. Some of us may need an action plan that includes time for meditation and relaxations or provides strategies for balancing work, personal interactions with family and friends, and our program. Others may need help to organize their homes; deal with their finances; and address medical, dental or mental health issues.
Along with working the Steps on a daily basis, an action plan may incorporate use of the other OA tools to bring structure, balance and manageability into our lives. As we use this tool, we find that we develop a feeling of serenity and continue to grow emotionally and spiritually while we make measurable progress on day at a time.”
This work was not done in one session it took place over a period of time incorporating 5 different sessions. There were even some motions that there was not enough time to get to. We had a very busy time.
Voting was Trustees were held of Friday morning. One of the new GST Trustees comes from our Intergroup, Janice S.
I also attended the Unity with Diversity: Our Collective Voices of Recovery on Thursday evening. There were three speakers and a skit performed. It was very informative. The skit was very good.
On Friday we had a free evening and I was able to get out for awhile. I had a fun time and was able to clear my brain that was swimming from all the thinking.
Saturday was the final Business Meeting and I was able to take my green dot off my badge at the end along with all the other green dots. Although I feel I still have a lot to learn, it was a great experience and I recommend whenever you get a chance, go see how it works.
After lunch down town I went to the Board of Trustees Meeting. They elected new officers for the coming year.
At 3:30 we had a final meeting with our committees and then we were off to get ready for Dinner/Dancing.
The entertainment included a skit about OA and Rozanne. It was very good. We have some very talented singers in OA as well as actors.
Will this is it for my report of the conference; hopefully I haven’t made any big mistakes in the telling or remembering. So much happened so fast this week, it will take some time for it all to be absorbed and computed.
I want to think you all for letting me be your delegate at World Service Conference. This was a very exciting conference. A lot got done that I am very glad to have been able to be a small part of.