The Magic Key

When I first came to AA, I thought there might be a magic secret someone could whisper in my ear to make me feel better. When I read things in my Big Book like "We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us," or "the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind," I thought they were a magic key to sobriety. I listened for the magic and searched the Big Book for that "secret key to sobriety," and thirty days later I was drunk. I had been pushing for that quick fix/easier, softer way and it wasn't there. I was still trying to force the lock.