Twelve Traditions
The Twelve Traditions were given to us for group harmony.
Here are the 12 steps as adapted for Overeaters Anonymous:
1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority— a loving God as he may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
3. The only requirement for OA membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively.
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other group or OA as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose–to carry its message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers.
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.
7. Every OA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. Overeaters Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
9. OA, as such, ought never be organized: but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues: hence the OA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion: we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio films, television, and other public media of communication.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Permission to use the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous for adaptation granted by AA World Services, Inc.
Spiritual Principles in the Twelve Traditions
A spiritual principle is associated with each of the Twelve Traditions.
Tradition One: Unity
Tradition Two: Trust
Tradition Three: Identity
Tradition Four: Autonomy
Tradition Five: Purpose
Tradition Six: Solidarity
Tradition Seven: Responsibility
Tradition Eight: Fellowship
Tradition Nine: Structure
Tradition Ten: Neutrality
Tradition Eleven: Anonymity
Tradition Twelve: Spirituality
