Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. Over the years, more amendments were added. Not because the Constitution was a failure, but because it needed to grow, improve, and correct its course. Amendments made it stronger.
Step Eight is where we begin writing the amendments to our own lives.
We start making a list of the places where our actions, words, and attitudes caused harm. We're simply becoming honest about the places where our good nature was taken off course by our drinking life. We aren't rewriting history, and we aren't beating ourselves up. We're simply preparing to make the changes that will help us live differently than we used to.
There is no need to rush this step. In fact, we ought not. But we don't sit on it procrastinating either. We simply take the time to be thorough because our sobriety depends on it. Every resentment we clear away, every relationship we become willing to repair, and every wrong we become willing to face removes another obstacle between us and God. Step Eight is careful preparation for the action that follows.
What amends to your life have you become willing to make?
