Twelfth Step Within Format for Information Gathering: “Ideas that Work”
| Type of Project | Abstinence |
| Project Name | Twelve 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. |
| Results | Open 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.
- Start missing meetings for any reason, real or imaginary.
- Become critical of the methods used by other members who may not agree with you in everything.
- Nurse the idea that someday, somehow, you can eat like “normal people” again.
- Let the other members do the Twelfth Step work in your group. You are too busy.
- Become conscious of your OA “seniority” and view every member with a skeptical eye.
- Become so pleased with your own views of the program that you consider yourself an authority.
- Start a small clique within your group, composed of only a few members who see eye-to-eye with you.
- Tell a new member in confidence that you yourself do not take ALL of the Twelve Steps seriously.
- 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.
- If an unfortunate member has a slip, drop them at once.
- Graduate to the point of no longer needing a sponsor yourself.
- 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.