This step invites awareness by reflection and personal house-clearing in preparation for the de-cluttering that relates to Step 9.  To set out to see from the perspective of the other and clean out the bruised relationships, pockets of guilt, pain, fear, resentment and sadness stored inside.

It allows the self to look at the social construction as personal inventory.  This can include so much emotional material which has be dealt with and blocks the love that human beings have in their hearts.  Without this step the toxic residue will be carried in life to virtually every episode that one engages in because of the shame, hurt and rejection.  Even if this has been mostly created by the individual themselves.

This steps provides the opportunity to reduce this guilt by setting things on a different path just by the focus of writing a list in preparation for this process.  This is because it asks “who is in your life” “what are your relationships”.  It is part of your script and asks you to write down the participants of your life story.  Your narrative, your book and the characters involved that have become part of “who you are”.

The sadness is that because of situations and the illness of addiction one looses “who they are”.  Or a sense of this which leaves their identity in crisis. The step 8 is about looking at the system where the individual had a sense of self and not allowing the denial of this.

It allows the grief of what can be potentially lost forever and the opportunity to find hope.  It can be a release of feelings and even resentments and can engage us in a high degree of emotional integrity.  It brings people on the list to life and makes the relationship with them seem more real.  It evokes memories, thoughts, feelings, intentions and the inspiration that change is possible.

It has the potential to replace judgement with a different attitude of humility and mercy.  That to engage in this is a willingness to be different  which will develop the emotional maturity that will eventually lead to emotional resolution.

We can also forgive if others have harmed us which can be on the list as this is part of our self construction.  We need to accept “life for life” and “people for people”.  This means giving the benefit of the doubt and that people have faults or flaws that leave them vulnerable to harm others.  It is not our job to be concerned with their inventory or mention their transgressions or faults.  That the human condition “rightly or wrongly” means that pain inflicted on us can be an accident of circumstance because of the complexity of the animal that we are.