Life Recovery Step 8: Be Willing to Make Amends
Making amends is painful. Doing nothing is painful. But nothing is as painful as keeping everything a secret.
In Life Recovery Step 8, it says, “We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.”
Unfortunately, individuals stuck in addiction try to do damage control by trying to hide their addiction and not making amends to those they’ve hurt. Full of shame and self-condemnation, they avoid making amends at all costs because they think it’ll spare themselves—and those they love—from more hurt.
Here are four core shame-filled beliefs that keep a person stuck:
-
- “I am a bad and worthless person.”
- “If you really knew me, you wouldn’t love me.”
- “My addiction is my greatest need.” (more…)
On the outside, we have it all together. But on the inside, we may have secrets that we’ve never told a soul. Our secrets lie below the surface. No one can see them; nevertheless, they are there. These secrets cause us pain and keep us from being fully known.