Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity to accept thethings I cannot change, courage tochange the things I can, and thewisdom to know the difference.
Helpful Concepts
1. We come to EA to learn how to live a new way oflife through the 12-step program of Emotions
Anonymous which consists of Twelve Steps,Twelve Traditions, concepts, the Serenity Prayer,slogans, Just for Todays, EA literature, weekly
meetings, telephone and personal contacts, andliving the program one day at a time. We do notcome for another person—we come to help
ourselves and to share our experiences, strength,
and hope with others.
2. We are experts only on our own stories, how wetry to live the program, how the program works forus, and what EA has done for us. No one speaks for
Emotions Anonymous as a whole.
3. We respect anonymity—no questions are asked.
We aim for an atmosphere of love and acceptance.
We do not care who you are or what you havedone. You are welcome.
4. We do not judge; we do not criticize; we do notargue. We do not give advice regarding personal orfamily affairs.
5. EA is not a sounding board for continually reviewing our miseries, but a way to learn to detachourselves from them. Part of our serenity comesfrom being able to live at peace with unsolved
problems.
6. We never discuss religion, politics, national orinternational issues, or other belief systems orpolicies. EA has no opinion on outside issues.
7. Emotions Anonymous is a spiritual program, not areligious program. We do not advocate any
particular belief system.

8. The steps suggest a belief in a Power greater thanourselves. This can be human love, a force for good,
the group, nature, the universe, God, or any entity amember chooses as a personal Higher Power.
9. We utilize the program—we do not analyze it.
Understanding comes with experience. Each day weapply some part of the program to our personal
lives.
10. We have not found it helpful to place labels on
any degree of illness or health. We may havedifferent symptoms, but the underlying emotions
are the same or similar. We discover we are notunique in our difficulties and illnesses.
11. Each person is entitled to his or her own opinions
and may express them at a meeting within theguidelines of EA. We are all equal—no one ismore important than another.

12.Part of the beauty and wonder of the EA
program is that at meetings we can say anything
and know it stays there. Anything we hear at a
meeting, on the telephone, or from anothermember is confidential and is not to be repeated
to anyone—EA members, mates, families,relatives or friends.

Just for Today: The Choice is Mine
1. Just for today I will try to live through this day
only, not tackling all of my problems at once. Ican do something at this moment that would
discourage me if I had to continue it for alifetime.

5. Just for today I will do somebody a good turn andnot get found out. If anyone knows of it, it will notcount. I will do at least one thing I don’t want todo, and I will perform some small act of love for myneighbor.
6. Just for today I will try to go out of my way to bekind to someone I meet. I will be considerate, talklow, and look as good as I can. I will not engage in
unnecessary criticism or finding fault, nor try toimprove or regulate anybody except myself.
7. Just for today I will have a program. I may notfollow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself
from two pests— hurry and indecision.
8. Just for today I will stop saying, “If I had time.” I
never will find time for anything. If I want time, Imust take it.
9. Just for today I will have a quiet time of meditation
wherein I shall think of my Higher Power, ofmyself, and of my neighbor. I shall relax and seektruth.
10. Just for today I shall be unafraid. Particularly, I shallbe unafraid to be happy, to enjoy what is good,what is beautiful, and what is lovely in life.
11. Just for today I will not compare myself withothers. I will accept myself and live to the best ofmy ability.
12.Just for today I choose to believe that I can live thisone day.
Slogans We Use

2. Just for today I will try to be happy, realizing myhappiness does not depend on what others do or
say or what happens around me. Happiness is aresult of being at peace with myself.

Let go and let God

Know yourself — beYou are not alone

honestOne day at a time

This too shall pass

3. Just for today I will try to adjust myself to what isand not force everything to adjust to my own desires. I will accept my family, my friends, mybusiness, my circumstances as they come.

Live and let live

I need people

First things first

Keep it simple

Look for the good

I have a choice

By the grace of God

4. Just for today I will take care of my physical health; Iwill exercise my mind; I will read something spiritual.

Item #1 © 1972 Emotions Anonymous International — Revised 1994 EA-approved literature. This pamphlet may be reproduced for free distribution. www.emotionsanonymous.org

EAI P.O. Box 4245, St Paul MN 55104-0245

P: 651.647.9712

The Twelve Traditions
1.

Our common welfare should come first; personal
recovery depends on EA 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 EA membership is adesire to become well emotionally.
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or EA as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carryits message to the person who still suffers fromemotional problems.
6. An EA group ought never endorse, finance or lend
the EA name to any related facility or outside
enterprise, lest problems of money, property andprestige divert us from our primary purpose.
7. Every EA group ought to be fully self-supporting,declining outside contributions.
8. Emotions Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ
special workers.
9. EA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may
create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. Emotions Anonymous has no opinion on outside
issues; hence, the EA name ought never be drawn
into public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction
rather than promotion; we need always maintainpersonal anonymity at the level of press, radio andfilms.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of ourtraditions, ever reminding us to place principles
before personalities.

The Twelve Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over our emotions— that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves
could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over tothe care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory ofourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another humanbeing the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these
defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, andbecame willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever
possible, except when to do so would injure them orothers.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when wewere wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve
our conscious contact with God as we understood
Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us andthe power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of thesesteps, we tried to carry this message, and to practicethese principles in all our affairs.

The Twelve Promises
1. We realize a new freedom and happiness.
2. We do not regret the past or wish to shut the door onit.
3. We comprehend the word serenity, and we know
peace of mind.
4. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, wesee how our experience can benefit others.
5. The feelings of uselessness and self-pity lessen.
6. We have less concern about self and gain interest inothers.
7. Self-seeking slips away.
8. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life changes.
9. Our relationships with other people improve.
10. We intuitively know how to handle situations whichused to baffle us.
11. We acquire a feeling of security within ourselves.
12. We realize that God is doing for us what we could not
do ourselves.
These may seem like extravagant promises, but they arenot. They are being fulfilled among us, sometimes
quickly, sometimes slowly.
The Twelve Steps, Traditions and Promises reprinted for adaptation withpermission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc.© 1939, 1955, 1976.

EA’S 12 STEPPROGRAM

Emotions Anonymous (EA) was formed by agroup of individuals who found a new wayof life by working the 12-step program ofAlcoholics Anonymous, as adapted forpeople with emotional problems.
We invite you to discover, as we have, that
our EA fellowship of weekly meetings iswarm, friendly, and important for achieving
and maintaining emotional health.
The 12 Steps and the 12 Traditions
are guides for our meetings and forliving one day at a time because ours
is a 24-hour program.

Emotions Anonymous is a non-profit
organization, supported by the voluntary
contributions of its members.
We thank Alcoholics Anonymous fortheir permission to use the program,
and we thank the God of ourunderstanding for guidance.