Positive Action Changes Everything

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Step 6 - Willingness

Tradition 6 - Solidarity

Step 6: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these

defects of character.

Wishy Washy

I recently had to change out my dishwasher. That doesn’t seem like a big thing, but I put it off as long as I could. I used duct tape for months to keep the front panel on. Even after I needed extra rinses to get the dishes clean, I still took a couple of weeks to order a new dishwasher.

Then I had anxiety about the new one coming. It would be different. Would it work as well? Would I have trouble loading it? Maybe it wouldn’t be as good as the old one.

I really didn’t have the anxiety long, because in our program, I have learned to identify my feelings and figure out what to do. I realized I was afraid of the change and wanted to hold on to what I was comfortable with.

Once I realized this, it was easy to move on. The old dishwasher wasn’t working and didn’t even look good because of the duct tape. Why would I want to keep it? Just because it was known to me? By doing Step Six, I learned that I sometimes want to keep my old way, even if it doesn’t work for a new healthy life, simply because I am comfortable with the old and it is known to me.

Thank you so much for OA, where I am learning how to live in ways that help me move forward and be healthy.

— Marjorie K., Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA

Lifeline - Posted on June 14, 2016

Tradition 6: An OA group ought never endorse, finance or lend the OA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

Simplicity

With money, property, or prestige comes responsibility. We already have enough responsibility. When anyone, anywhere, reaches for help, I want the hand of OA to always be there, and for that I am responsible.

I struggle along well enough, one day at a time, in this world of confusion and misunderstanding. I get some relief from my addiction, and then suddenly I become an authority on matters that have nothing to do with our primary purpose. I am like that. I am easily distracted. I have the best intentions. Wouldn’t it be great if we could rally behind this cause or that movement? C’mon, everyone! Join me! Join me and my bankrupt idealism and my insatiable appetite for more. More what? Everything!

Let’s not louse this thing up.

The Traditions not only allow us to play well together, but also they deepen our experience with humility. This expression of humility, staying right-sized, keeps our focus on helping others and sharing that which has been freely given to us, from one addict to another. This is our primary purpose. Carrying a message of depth and weight requires simplicity.

— Edited and reprinted from OA Today newsletter, St. Louis Bi-State Area Intergroup, June 2015