Step Nine in the AA program of recovery is...
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
This is a step where courage must be combined with willingness. This is where we take action - regardless of how uncomfortable it feels. We go to the people we have harmed and we make our amends. Fun? Hell no. Necessary? Absolutely, if we want to be free of the guilt we have been carrying around over the years.
There is an exception. If making an amends will actually do harm to someone then we do not do it. Never are we to do something or tell someone something that will harm them just to ease our conscious. We must not put ourselves first here.
Step Nine is one more step toward freedom from alcohol. After this step in the Big Book are some promises. One of them says that if we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. Wanna be amazed? Make those amends.
