~ TRADITION TWELVE ~
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"If you cannot mould yourself to such as
you would wish, how can you expect
others to be entirely to your liking?"
Thomas `a Kempis
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Compulsive overeaters come from every
age group, socioeconomic group, race,
color, creed, sexual orientation, and so
on. No two of us are alike. The Twelfth
Tradition teaches us to place principles
before personalities. This is one of the
traditions by which our program either
lives or dies. Because we are so very
different, we are going to have varying
opinions -- sometimes almost explosively
different opinions -- on issues
affecting our fellowship as a
whole. When those times arise, it is
essential that we remember to place
principles before personalities.
When I served on my first Group
Conscious Committee, our home group
called it "serving our one-year
sentence." It was a hard year and it was
difficult to get much business done
because it was difficult to get people
to agree on much business. But it was
just the experience I needed in
practicing the Twelfth Tradition in my
life. Always remembering that Tradition,
I did my best to not allow personalities
to clutter my decision-making process in
the committee.
The principles of the program are set
forth in the Steps. They are principles
such as: honesty, faith, forgiveness,
trust, hope, courage, willingness and
humility. As we work to embody these
principles by working the Steps in our
lives, we reduce the chance that issues
affecting our fellowship will divide
us. It will be easier to look beyond the
perceived faults of others and to see
the needs of the fellowship and the good
of the whole.
ONE DAY AT A TIME . . .
I will look past my OA members’ perceived faults and see the needs of the fellowship.