I'm working my way through Step 9. It has been such a roller coaster. I had all this anxiety and self-imposed guilt and shame as I got ready to face people and walk through my amends with them, but the crazy part is, everyone has received my amends with an open heart, and keeping everything 100% honest since that point has kept me happy, joyous, and free. One thing I've noticed is that the more manipulative folks in my life have responded with "well I guess now you'll <adhere to whatever expectation they have>". Short answer - No! I'm not doing this work to make myself better living up to another person's ideal for me. I'm doing this to stay true to who God wants me to be. I've discovered that I'm more able to be present, engaged, enjoyable, and even helpful to my friends. I'm finding a sort of natural selection process as to who is becoming a bigger pat of my life and who is moving out of it. I'm embracing the reality t...