Twelve Steps to a Slip

Last revised:

Twelfth Step Within Format for Information Gathering: “Ideas that Work”

Type of ProjectAbstinence
Project NameTwelve Steps to a Slip
Resources Needed (budget, volunteers, materials, etc.)Access to a computer to print Twelve Steps to a Slip (below) on card stock. The card, folded in half, is 4 ½ inches (about 114 mm) wide and almost 3 inches (76 mm) in height. The front page should have “Twelve Steps to a Slip,” the intergroup name, and the country written on it. The back side is blank. When opened, the card is 4 ½ inches (about 114 mm) wide and almost 6 inches (152 mm) in height.
Additional Comments (including things of which to be mindful)We recommend selling these cards as a fundraiser, perhaps for your delegate (World Service Business Conference) fund. You can decide to sell them for US$1 each, or six for US$5. We also suggest using Twelve Steps to a Slip as a discussion tool for your meeting, possibly during Twelfth Step Within Day.
ResultsOpen your eyes about slipping. Perhaps this will help us keep our abstinence!

TWELVE STEPS TO A SLIP
Every slip has a beginning. Know your danger signals.

  1. Start missing meetings for any reason, real or imaginary.
  2. Become critical of the methods used by other members who may not agree with you in everything.
  3. Nurse the idea that someday, somehow, you can eat like “normal people” again.
  4. Let the other members do the Twelfth Step work in your group. You are too busy.
  5. Become conscious of your OA “seniority” and view every member with a skeptical eye.
  6. Become so pleased with your own views of the program that you consider yourself an authority.
  7. Start a small clique within your group, composed of only a few members who see eye-to-eye with you.
  8. Tell a new member in confidence that you yourself do not take ALL of the Twelve Steps seriously.
  9. Let your mind dwell more and more on how much you are helping others, rather than on how much the OA program is helping you.
  10. If an unfortunate member has a slip, drop them at once.
  11. Graduate to the point of no longer needing a sponsor yourself.
  12. Consider a food plan vital for new members, but not for yourself. You outgrew the need for that long ago.

OA Board-approved. © Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved. Rev. 3/24.

Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office
Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA
Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA
Telephone: +1 505-891-2664

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