Apr 24 

Written By Dakota McKay

“Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.”

What Step 9 means to me is to take responsibility for the harm I’ve caused myself and others as a result of drinking alcohol. This step may provided me with peace of mind, serenity, and healing between myself and others. It also gave me the opportunity to grow and mature in my spiritual life. It’s a daily practice for me to apologize for my wrongs, this step allows me see my part in every situation throughout my life. To make amends is an opportunity to clean the wreckage of my past and take accountability for my wrongs. It helps me to be able to move forward in my recovery with a fresh start and awareness of how I treat others.

When I did Step 9 it personally helped me rebuild & restart relationships with people that I’ve wronged. It gave me the opportunity to have a fresh slate and be able to start working on the daily steps 10,11, & 12. Besides step 4 & 5, I would say 9 was one of the most difficult, but most fundamental steps for me to do. Step 9 is an action step, where you have to take everything you have learned and practice it in life. When I was in fear about how an amends would go, I learned to push through and have faith. You make amends not just for yourself, but to do right to the other person. Every time that I thought an amends would go awry, I was always pleasantly surprised on how forgiving the person was and it gave me so much peace. I pray to continue to do these everywhere I go. I hope you’ll have the same if not better experience that I had doing this step.