A new year without resolutions

The new year used to feel stressful for me. Every January came with the same familiar pressure to start over, make a plan, and finally “fix” my eating and my weight. I would make resolutions with real sincerity, believing that this time I would follow through. And every year, those resolutions failed.

Before starting the Overeaters Anonymous 12-step program of recovery, I didn’t understand that my resolutions were really attempts to control. I was trying, once again, to manage food, my body, and my life through self-will. I believed the next calendar beginning—a new year, a new month, even a new Monday—would somehow make me a different person. What I know now is that I don’t need a new year to begin again.

Today, instead of resolutions, I rely on a power greater than myself by working the 12 Steps daily. That shift has changed everything. I’ve learned that abstinence with peace of mind was never something I could achieve on my own, no matter how determined I was. I had years of proof of that.

Recovery has taught me a simpler way to live. Rather than making promises about the future, I take things one day at a time. I practice surrender, especially when my old ideas show up and tell me that I should be in charge. When I let go of self-will, I experience something I never found through effort alone: freedom.

Life in recovery looks different now. The constant obsession with food has quieted and my life has become manageable. I am more than 70 pounds lighter, but the deeper change is internal. I am less driven by fear and control, and more present in my life. This new way of living didn’t come from trying harder; it came from letting go.

If you’re new to OA or you've never been to a meeting, you’re welcome to join us. You don’t need to commit or decide anything in advance and there are no fees or dues. You can attend an in-person or virtual meeting via our meeting directory. A new year doesn’t have to mean a new resolution. There is a solution and I hope that others get to experience what I have managed to experience through this program.