Step Eight doesn’t say we have to be excited about making amends. It doesn’t even say we have to feel ready. It asks us to become willing.
That is a much smaller door to walk through.
There may be names on our list that make our stomach turn. There may be situations we have no idea how to repair. We may be afraid of what someone will say or what we will have to admit. If we wait until all of that fear disappears, we might wait forever.
Willingness can begin with something as simple as admitting, “I don’t want to do this, but I want to become willing to do what recovery asks of me.” We don’t have to manufacture courage we don’t have yet. We can ask for help, talk with our sponsor, pray, and take the next right step when it comes.
Sometimes willingness comes before courage.
Where in my Eighth Step am I waiting to feel ready instead of becoming willing?
