For a long time, I was pretty good at keeping track of what everybody else did wrong. I could tell you what they said, what they did, why it was unfair, and exactly how they should have handled it differently. I kept pretty good records. Unfortunately, none of those records were about me.
Step Eight starts turning my attention back to my side of the street. That doesn’t mean the other person was innocent. It doesn’t mean what happened to me was okay. It simply means their inventory isn’t the one I’m taking. When I look honestly at my relationships, I can usually find something that belongs to me. Maybe I lied. Maybe I manipulated. Maybe I disappeared when someone needed me. Maybe I held onto resentment and punished somebody long after the original offense.
There is freedom in finally putting down everybody else’s inventory. I don’t have to figure out who was worse. I just have to become willing to clean up what belongs to me.
What becomes easier when I stop taking someone else’s inventory and look at my own?
