Go to Any Length?

"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 to have what we have and are willing to go TO ANY LENGTH to get it--then you are ready to take certain steps."

AA Big Book, 4th ed., "How it Works," 58.


ANOTHER QUESTION looms large before the addict: Are you willing to go to any length for recovery?

This is one of the several questions that the addict wakes to each morning:

Do you want to be healed?
What are you thirsty for?
Are you willing to go to any length to get it?



The addict's sponsor shared the following story with the addict:

A man seeking recovery met with his sponsor who asked him, "Are you willing to go to any length for recovery?"

The man replied, "Yes."

So the sponsor said to him, "Shave your beard!"

The man replied, "I don't understand. What does shaving my beard have to do with recovery? I don't remember anything in the Big Book about shaving beards."

The sponsor answered, "I thought you were willing to go to any length for recovery. If you are unwilling to shave your beard, how can I expect you to follow other directions I give down the road?"

One week later the man shaved his beard.


Addict: Do you want to be healed? Are you willing to go to any length? Are you ready to surrender?


The following story comes from the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark:

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As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

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Why would Jesus press this man so hard? The man was seeking truth and tried to fulfill the commandments. Yet, loving the man, Jesus pointed out one thing he lacked. And the man was sad.

The addict lacks one thing: the willingness to surrender. The addict holds on to his own abilities as the right solution. The addict questions everything and decides for himself whether it is right before taking advice. But if the addict is ready to go to any length, he should be ready to surrender.

Peace, addict! Surrender to those who have traveled this road before you. Realize that only in surrender will you be able to measure the truth of their advice. Surrender!

The addict is a long way from surrender. The addict fights surrender, fights letting go, fights acknowledgment of weakness. The addict fights every day, and so he stumbles, marching along as a slave to his addiction.

Addict, surrender to the healthy! Go no farther down this road of self-destruction! You can be free! Just surrender!

Do you want to be healed?

What are you thirsty for?

Are you willing to go to any length?

Are you ready to surrender?

Surrender, addict! Surrender and find peace!