[nandm]

Day 2

Effort and risk

"Resitance causes pain and lethargy. It is when we practice acceptance that new possibilities appear.

We know that Step Nine entails both effort and risk.

Effort is required because we must get into action. We must think about how to approach the person(s) to whom we wish to make amends. It's essential to plan our procedure thoughtfully, for we can not achieve a satisfactory result with a hit-and-run encounter. For this reason, we need to arrange a place and time where we can honestly face the persons and explain to them what we're trying to do and why.

Step Nine also involves risk because it's conceivable that the hurt or harm we've done the people on our list is so grave that they can not be forgiving. In fact, they may be downright uncivil to us.

It may feel unproductive to approach someone we suspect will make us feel guiltier than ever. And yet, taking the step offers us an opportunity to really get in touch with our deepest levels of honesty. If we're positive that, at our current stage of recovery, this encounter might work strongly to our disadvantage, then perhaps we can delay it until we feel we've reached a degree of self-acceptance that allows us to be totally candid with everyone.

Remember, we're not expecting a happy ending to all our encounters. But we are anxious to fulfill the task of taking care of our own responsibilities.

Today's Step: I willingly take the risk and make the effort to make direct amends.

Step by Step. Muriel Zink