Monthly Reflections

THE TWELVE TRADITIONS

The 12 Traditions are the guidelines by which our group and our fellowship function. They have proven over the years to be an effective way of holding the fellowship and individual groups together.

Tradition 9: EA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

When we apply tradition 9 in our program, it shows up as groups create committees to manage things like hospitality and such. At the level of trustees, we create ad hoc committees like the currently forming bylaw review committee and the upcoming communications committee to help EA be the best it can be at the level of work through the International Service Center, working with the trustees and executive director. I’m thankful for the freedom to create committees/service boards empowered to serve and that they can respond to others about their manner of service – being directly responsible to them in this way...Scott J

Though our EA meetings may seem chaotic at times, chaos isn't the goal of tradition 9. What this tradition encourages us to do is remain as free as possible from the bureaucracy which tends to form around organizations, taking on a life of its own and obscuring the real purpose of the group. Everything we do in EA is geared to our primary purpose of carrying our message of recovery to the person who still suffers from emotional problems.
We take direction from fellow members, emphasizing fellowship and group conscience rather than power and hierarchy when giving service. We practice rotation of leadership, and trust that our Higher Power is guiding us through group conscience...Derita P

One of the core strengths of Emotions Anonymous is that while we have steps, traditions, just for todays and other well thought-out literature to serve as the foundation of our recovery in the program, there is not an organization mandating what we must do to be emotionally well. We know that working the twelve steps is the soundest path to emotional recovery and we do so at a pace that makes sense for us. While sponsorships and groups have suggested guidelines, they are endowed with a great deal of autonomy, each working the program in the way that works best for them...Paul N

Tradition 9 reminds us that EA is not organized in the way that many other organizations are. We are a fellowship with no controlling hierarchy; no one outranks anyone else. EA does not bestow power on any individual or group. There is no “boss” issuing orders, mandating specific behavior, or imposing rewards/punishments for achieving required objectives. Our EA principles are suggested, not compulsory, and members of our fellowship decide for themselves whether they will accept these suggestions. While we ask each other for support and guidance, ultimately each of us must figure things out and follow through for ourselves in order to become well emotionally...Steve B

Please consider adding your own reflections to the EA Trustees' thoughts on the monthly reflection.The order of the Principles and Steps follow the calendar months. In 2019 we will work our way through the Traditions as they relate to the Steps.

If you would like to submit your reflection for publication consideration, email it to connection@emotionsanonymous.org by the 15th of the month prior to publication. EA needs member involvement! Please keep your submissions to 100 words. Due to space limitations, not all submissions will be published and they may be edited. We will try to include as many as we can!