Step 8

Step 8 is putting your moral inventory to work by creating inventory of those that you may have harmed. We must manage our guilt, and as in step 4, assess the guilt for hurting others. The weight of the guilt lightens once we take action to admit our wrong doings. This helps us become accountable for the danger of our unmanaged addiction.

Once we can face this truth it gives us the empowerment for progress. Step 8 along with other steps become a recurring theme of making amends of the social harm we may have caused. The reason that this concept is so important to the 12 steps is that it replaces addictive behaviors that tend to be only self-serving with ones that are for the greater good (including for you). Once this step is executed you can look forward to less guilt, more motivation, better relationships, and becoming a step closer to recovery.

1. What important relationships did you destroy or damage because of your addictive behaviors?
2. How much time and energy have you lost from your addictive behaviors? What do you think you would have done or become had it not been for your addictive behaviors?
3. Make a list of all those that you have possibly harmed by your addictive behaviors. List the effect on them as individuals and on your relationship.
4. Take the list of people that you have harmed and make a list of possible amends for each one of them. From the list of possible amends, choose the ones that seem most appropriate, and mark them according to level of difficulty.
5. What consequences do you fear in making amends? What is the worst thing that can happen? What is the best thing that can happen? What is likely to happen?
6. Do you feel angry or resentful towards any people on your amends list? If so, write them a letter of anger, but don't send it to them.
7. Describe here any other ways that you have used to get rid of the anger and resentment towards anyone on your list.
8. Describe any dreams that relate to making amends to others.

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