The Only Requirement

3.  The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively. ~ Tradition 3, Overeaters Anonymous

On first glance — and years of study, too —
it seems the Third Tradition says, “Leave them alone,
if their problem isn’t yours, they’re still welcome.”
But when the requirement seems so simple
it’s easy to not see the third word, that “REQUIREMENT.”
We’re not wide open, ready and willing to declare,
“If you show up here, you belong.” Only you can say,
but you must say…do you meet the requirement?
Do you want to stop eating compulsively?
Whether your compulsion is starving yourself
or eating twenty times a day what you need,
eating everything in reach then getting rid of it
or exercising seven hours because you ate
an extra stalk of celery? Do you want to stop?
Or do you just want the body that looks like you did,
the results you long for without the willingness to get there?
How do you fit with the Third Tradition? It is a requirement,
you know.

Trad3