It Works
by Quincy Gray McMichael
An erasure of “How It Works,” from the book Alcoholics Anonymous
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not
recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program,
usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.
There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way.
They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands
rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from
grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity
to be honest.
Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we
are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length
to get it — then you are ready to take certain steps.
At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could
not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from
the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we
let go absolutely.
Remember that we deal with alcohol — cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too
much for us. But there is One who has all power — that One is God. May you find Him now!
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection
and care with complete abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become
unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understood Him.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our
wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them
all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would
injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
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 and the power to carry
that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this
message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Quincy Gray McMichael is an Appalachian farmer who has published many short works and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Quincy earned an MFA from the Naslund-Mann School of Writing at Spalding University and has received support from Ragdale, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Vermont Studio Center. She is forever revising a memoir-in-verse about the grief of maternal neglect, and a hybrid memoir that explores obsession and overwork on her "sustainable" farm.
