THE RECOVERY GROUP
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous
GUIDELINE ONE
THE RECOVERY GROUP
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous
GUIDELINE ONE
Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon the unity of The Recovery Group.
The Recovery Group's loops and meetings are set up for the specific purpose of sharing experience, strength and hope with one another. We ask that there be no posting of disruptive messages. We also ask that no chain letters, virus warning hoaxes, commercial messages from our members, quotations from copyrighted materials, or things of that nature be sent. In our loops and in our meetings, our members are lovingly guided to keep the needs of the group as a whole in mind. We are not alone any more. We are connected to our fellow human beings around the world. The Recovery Group's unity is a life and death matter for us and we take these guidelines very seriously.
In addition, we speak the language of The Recovery Group here. We are a spiritual group and religion and the use of deity-specific names, which relate to specific religions, causes controversy. We, therefore, ask that they be confined to special interest loops and meetings which deal with religion as a secondary issue. In all other loops and meetings of The Recovery Group we use the terms God (meaning the God of Our Understanding) and Higher Power. These words cause no controversy, allow us to express our deepest spiritual feelings and keep our loops and meetings at peace; thereby meeting our mission of providing a recovery home conducive to sharing our experience, strength and hope.
In addition to religion, food talk and politics are also subjects which seem to cause controversy; therefore, we ask that members confine their sharing to their personal experience, strength and hope. We have created some Twelve Step loops and meetings compulsive overeaters with secondary issues. Some of our members find that these loops enable them to work a better recovery program where they can address these secondary issues in harmony and peace with others. Finally, to assure the unity of our group and the peace of mind of our members, we in the Recovery Group community do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our informed group conscience. Our leaders are but Trusted Servants; they do not govern.
The ultimate authority of The Recovery Group is a loving God as He is expressed in our informed group conscience. Each member of our fellowship is important and each member shares a responsibility for the operation of our group. When there is a need The Recovery Group, as a whole or as individual loops, will have a group conscience whereby each loop member is entitled to vote. The group will abide by the collective decision of its members. The Recovery Group is served by an Intergroup composed of Trusted Servants of our fellowship. Trusted Servants assume their assignments from year to year after a vote of trust by the Recovery Intergroup group conscience.
A Board of Trustees will be established and List Ownership will be passed on to the Board pending approval by the Recovery Intergroup. The Recovery Board of Trustees will have term limits and, as is the case with all Trusted Servants, will be given a vote of confidence by group conscience. The Primary Ownership of the Recovery Group will reside with the Recovery Board of Trustees, a rotating body of Trusted Servants. In addition to the Recovery Intergroup and the Board of Trustees, there will be a Business Group designed for certain group consciences made up of Trusted Servants or their respective representatives, and members-at-large who would like to have a voice in the discussion prior to the vote by the Recovery Group. This list will be maintained by a Voting Committee and will give all members a voice in the decisions of The Recovery Group.
The only requirement for membership in The Recovery Group is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
The only requirement to be on our lists or to attend our meetings is a desire to stop eating compulsively. No person who has this desire will ever be barred from the group. The Recovery Group is where we learn to open our hearts and where we have unconditional acceptance. And, if we so desire, The Recovery Group can become our recovery home. The Recovery Group is a fellowship specifically for compulsive eaters; however, as mentioned in the implementation of Guideline One, some of our loops stress a second issue which is exacerbated by being a compulsive eater. Nevertheless, first and foremost, these loops are here for the main purpose of providing compulsive eaters a safe and serene place to work a Twelve Step recovery program and to carry the message to others who suffer.
Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or The Recovery Group as a whole.
The Recovery Group is not affiliated with any other group or organization. Because Guideline Four gives the loops in our community the freedom to do what works best for them, The Recovery Group has set up guidelines and procedures which work best in cyberspace. Our discussion groups and meetings are unlike face-to-face meetings because we serve thousands of compulsive eaters 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are technical skills demanded here of Trusted Servants that face-to-face meetings do not require. But, because we are all compulsive eaters, we are more alike than different and our Guidelines serve us the same as they serve our brothers and sisters in the face-to-face meetings we also attend. The Recovery Group strives to always live by the principles embodied in our Guidelines.
Each group has but one primary purpose -- to carry its message to the compulsive eater who still suffers.
Our primary purpose is to carry the message of recovery to the compulsive eater who still suffers and is reaching out for help. The Internet is a vast medium which has great potential for carrying the message of our own program of recovery. The Recovery Group members realize we cannot keep the precious gift of our own recovery unless we give recovery away by sharing the message of the Twelve Steps. In keeping with our primary purpose, The Recovery Group is a recovery home; therefore flames and attacks are not welcome here. Individual loops and online meetings have the right to protect their members from harassment and to keep their recovery home safe. Those who harass or threaten members of a group may have his/her messages immediately put on review by the Coordinator of that group until the perpetrator can commit to follow the guidelines of the group. As soon as the loop is safe, the Coordinator may then notify the Intergroup that a member is under review, give the reasons for doing so and place a record of the action in the Shared Files section of the loop and/or Intergroup. If, after reading the report, the Intergroup thinks the offense and the action are severe enough to justify a group conscience, they may do so if they deem this necessary.
The Recovery Group should never endorse, finance, or lend its name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary spiritual aim.
The Recovery Group as a whole is neither for nor against any outside issue or enterprise. We know that if we deviated from our primary spiritual aim of carrying the message, we would no longer be able to keep the simplicity and wonderment of our beloved group; thus, we dedicate ourselves to "first things first." We are blessed to enjoy this miracle in cyberspace and, as a whole, it is to our advantage not to express an opinion on issues outside of our Fellowship. This way, we avoid public controversy and give The Recovery Group the opportunity to thrive.
The Recovery Group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
The Recovery Group has no need for, nor accepts any outside contributions. Instead, we urge members to contribute financially to organizations which have a similar mission to that of The Recovery Group. Our Trusted Servants volunteer their time, skills, and energy to this endeavor. Our staff and administrators are Recovery Group members who use their skills both technically and otherwise to help their own recovery through service to others. Our operations are simple and our members send any contribution they desire to make directly and privately to any organization they choose. Because the collection of money is precedent-setting and dangerous in cyberspace, we ask that all contributions by members be handled privately with organizations the individual member chooses.
The Recovery Group should remain forever nonprofessional. We do not employ any workers, skilled or otherwise. We are maintained strictly by volunteers.
The Recovery Group has no need for service centers; thus, no one is employed by us. While we have many "professionals" among us, there are no professional Recovery Group members; therefore, we all have an equal opportunity to do service. Since we have found no need to have paid professionals in The Recovery Group and because there is no exchange of monies, there is no need to have a Treasurer among the Trusted Servants. All contributions have been and will continue to be made directly and privately to those organizations for whom our members deem to have a need.
The Recovery Group, as such, should never be organized; but, we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those we serve.
The Recovery Group has Trusted Servants who serve with other Trusted Servants in an Intergroup. This Intergroup is responsible for dealing with all business matters. Because of this Intergroup and the opportunity for its members to participate in business matters, our loops and meetings are left free for discussions of experience, strength and hope. Our emphasis is on fellowship, not organization. We live by the spiritual principles embodied in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Guidelines. Our personal and group survival depend on this.
The Recovery Group has no opinion on outside issues; hence our name should never be drawn into public controversy.
Our world thrives on controversy. The Recovery Group does not. We are a diverse group and have members coming to us from all over the world representing different backgrounds, cultures, political persuasions and religions. While the world around us may be in turmoil, we have found a haven. Although the Recovery Group takes no position on those controversial matters, we recognize that many compulsive eaters have secondary issues in working their Twelve Step program which may be considered off topic in many of our regular loops. To serve those who need to work through these secondary issues, the Recovery Group has established Special Interest Loops where subjects like religion, food, etc., can be shared appropriately. Recovery is where we learn to live and let live. While in our regular loops, these secondary issues may be categorized as outside interests, to a diabetic who needs to talk food, to someone who needs to express his/her faith without restrictions or to someone who needs specifics about a food plan our Special Interest loops are there to serve. This allows our regular loops and meetings to be free of the controversy that sometimes surrounds these special but very necessary interests.
Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion. We need always to maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television, and other public media of communication.
The Recovery Group loops and meetings are open only to people who have the desire to stop eating compulsively and who request membership on the list or attend our meetings. We are not a public medium of communication. Members may use their real names or screen names, whichever they choose. Any archives we maintain are closed to the public with the exception of our Working The Steps and Big Book Studies. Members are encouraged to respect the anonymity of those they meet on the lists and in our meetings. We have faith in this program that provides attraction and not promotion.
Traditionally, anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these guidelines, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
We ask each member of The Recovery Group to respect anonymity and confidentiality. Anonymity is one of our most prized possessions. We know that what we see, do and say here must stay here. We know that we must always place principles before personalities if our fellowship is to remain alive and well so that others who follow us may find recovery. Breaking a fellow member's anonymity is not an option. And, in the fellowship of The Recovery Group, blessed with our Higher Power's help, it will never be an option.
What we could never do alone ~
We can do together.
One day at a time ~
One step at a time.
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