12 Steps of Recovery
Step 12 – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to food addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Step 12 speaks of a “spiritual awakening” as the result of working the Steps of recovery. The spiritual awakening, for me, was the realization that God actually cares about what I eat. His will for me is to have a right relationship with food. For that matter, it goes for any substance or thing that I am habitually using in order to calm my feelings.
The 12 Steps are a way of living that help facilitates my relationship with God. It is a roadmap for living a life that is authentic and that freely gives God the reigns.
Turning my will over to God each day, especially in the area of addictive eating has revolutionized my relationship with Him. I believe God used my food addiction as a bridge back to Him. I had no place to turn but to Him. I’ve tried many diets, but God was waiting for me to admit that diets weren’t the answer.
Surrendered
Once I surrendered the food that kept me in an addictive cycle, I was ready to eat healthy, one day at a time. Of course, I needed help in finding a way to do that. I found help through a food addiction recovery program. The program offered a healthy food menu plan and daily tools to keep me on track.
I didn’t need another diet, I needed RECOVERY.
Today, I am a different person compared to when I first started the food addiction recovery program. The 12 Steps has fundamentally changed my way of doing life. The principles within each Step can be applied to every area of life. For example, the first Step talks about admitting that we are powerless over something. Well, that can translate to anything that we have no power over. We simply surrender those things to God.
Character Change
Two of the Steps deal with defects of character, facing them, writing them down, sharing them, and asking God to remove them. All of the Recovery Steps are a holistic approach to addiction that deal with the whole person – mind, body, and spirit.
Carry the Message
Carrying the message to other food addicts is a privilege. When I share with others about my struggle with food and show them my fat pictures, they are encouraged and want to know how I did it. I find that some people are ready for recovery and some are not. It is ususally, because they don’t want to give up their favorite food. They feel that the food is all they have to cope with life.
Although living a life of recovery is simple, it is not always easy. I have to be intentional about my recovery each day, by using the tools that keep me on track.
The principles of the 12 Steps are now integrated into my lifestyle.
I don’t work my recovery program perfectly, but each day, I try to do my best, with the tools that I have been given. I remind myself that it is a matter of progress, not perfection, a journey, not a destination.
Cynthia
