The Value of Work
Meeting my bread-and-butter responsibilities while practicing the principles
“It is possible for us to use the alleged dishonesty of other people as a plausible excuse for not meeting our own obligations…Once, some prejudiced friends exhorted me never to go back to Wall Street…Because this sounded so high-minded, I continued to stay away from the only business that I knew. When my household finally went broke, I realized I hadn’t been able to face the prospect of going back to work. So I returned to Wall Street…A Wall Street business trip to Akron, Ohio, first brought me face to face with Dr. Bob. So the birth of A.A. hinged on my effort to meet my bread-and-butter responsibilities.”
-Bill W. (As Bill Sees It p. 128)
Imagine if Bill had never gone back to work. And back to the business where he had been “cut down” by his own alcoholism. AA would have never existed, and many hundreds of thousands who are now sober people and recovering members of Al-Anon would never have been given the Twelve Steps of recovery. We speak very little of the importance of work in our meetings, but this is an area that is critical for our continued sobriety and Al-Anon recovery.
I got back to work when I was about 30 days sober. The fact that I got a job was a miracle in itself. I was unemployable, at least in my own mind. I had lost job after job in my drinking. Sometimes I got fired…many more times I walked away when things got uncomfortable or bosses started giving me a hard time. I was extremely self-centered at work. I expected things always to go my way, and if they didn’t, well then “screw you” was my attitude. Like with so many areas of my life, I needed an overhauling when it came to work.
I got a job as a wedding chapel assistant at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. My pay was $11 per hour and I was grateful for the work. I passed a hair test that I should have failed, so God had a hand in my getting that job. I had a boss who was not afraid to discipline me for my tardiness to work. Already my Higher Power had me working on my character defects. One of the most humbling jobs I did at the wedding chapel was cleaning vases. I had to pull all of the vases out of storage and clean then one at a time. Now understand I had a Master of Education graduate degree. But alcoholism, the great eraser, took all of my self-confidence and my career. Not to mention that I could barely read when I got sober. I was that messed up.
Getting out in the world again is scary. As sober people, many of us would prefer to just spend time in meetings and living off of other people. But this is not the AA way. Work is an important part of recovery. Earning a paycheck gives us dignity in a way few other things can. I was fortunate not to be back at teaching at this point in my sobriety. With my wedding chapel job, I had no work responsibilities outside my 9-5 job. I went to meetings every single night. I got to build my sobriety one day at a time.
What kind of work we do does not matter. What really matters is that we can balance work with an AA or Al-Anon program. If all I am doing is working, then I am not practicing my recovery. Overworking is not a recovery behavior—it is a symptom of trying to outrun the disease of alcoholism. When I am overworking, I don’t have to face the wreck that my life has become. I can put it out of my mind until it builds up and explodes around me.
Sponsorship has really helped me with work issues. Finding the right job, dealing with life on life’s terms at work, and learning to place principles before my personality are all problems that I take to my sponsor. And the women whom I sponsor also bring those problems to me. That is the beauty of sponsorship. I don’t have to do this alone or in isolation. I can get help when I need it.
I am currently finishing up my 17th year of teaching as a sober member of AA and a sane member of the Al-Anon Family Groups. I am so grateful to be able to practice the principles of both of my programs—such as courage, acceptance, willingness, patience, humility, integrity, and brotherly love. And I get this practice by going to work each day.