Questions to ask yourself while working Step 8
Step Eight ~ Part 1: Questions
"Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."
Take your moral inventory back out and look at it. It is an introspective list; it looks inward. Now we need to look outward, and to put ourselves in the way of feeling the pain of others, pain that we ourselves have caused.
1. There are many reasons we began to drink. Eventually though, the disease progressed, became a way of life for me. And I still stuffed my emotions. How often and with whom was I not truly present and giving my love, because alcohol was more important to me than anything else?
2. As aa alcoholic I often shortchanged myself and others to acquire alcohol. I used my resources for my addiction, and not for giving my family and me the good things in life we all deserved. How have I stolen, cheated, or lied to avoid the consequences of my addiction? And who was hurt by my actions?
3. In my disease, I often settled for much less than the best in many areas. How did my willingness to make falcohol my objective in life shortchange others, at home, at work, in relationships and friendships? Who did I harm in this?
4. As my disease progressed, I became filled with rage, self hatred, and anxiety. How did I cause injury or harm to others by my inappropriate reactions to life?