Clearing the Debris of Self-Will in Steps 8 and 9 — Bob D. Part 1

About This Speaker Tape

A blade in a man's chest, a burned-down couch, and a puddle of blood on a guest room floor. Bob D. doesn't sugarcoat the wreckage. For him, Steps 8 and 9 weren't about polite apologies; they were about sweeping away the debris of a life lived like an animal. He describes the terror of a list that could lead to prison or a grave, comparing the process to a fifth-grader staring at high school finals—overwhelming until the synchronicity of a Higher Power aligns the path.

Bob and Clint dismantle the illusion of the "80% complete" amends, warning that unmade financial debts act as ghosts that haunt a man's bank account and spirit. Bob recounts buying back his integrity nickel by nickel, collecting rare coins to pay back a father who had already forgiven him. To Bob, an unmade amends is a stone in the shoe, a spiritual sabotage where attacking another is merely attacking the other end of the same worm.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Bob D. opens with a prayer and introduces the 'Romance and Finance' workshop.
• 4:15 Bob describes the terror of Step 9 and the specific harm of stabbing a man in the chest.
• 11:30 Bob discusses the four categories of amends and the concept of synchronicity.
• 17:45 Story of finding Anna in the phone book after 17 years and helping Jim get sober.
• 25:10 Clint H. discusses the principle of forgiveness and the 'gladly ready' state of willingness.
• 32:40 Clint's practical system of 3x5 cards and the importance of specific, direct amends.
• 45:15 Bob discusses the spiritual cost of unmade financial amends and the 'Flatliners' metaphor.
• 55:20 Bob's story of collecting coins to pay back his father and the peace of burying him without ghosts.
• 1:05:10 Bob's experience with a $22,000 business debt and the resulting financial sabotage.
• 1:15:40 Discussion on 'living amends' versus direct verbal amends.
• 1:25:10 Story of Chelsea's four-year persistence in sending cards to her bigoted father.
• 1:40:20 Clint's story of making amends to John and the responsibility of taking care of John's son, Daniel.