“We now have tools to help us grow.”

– Life with Hope, second edition, page 63

I’ve heard people talk in meetings about recovery giving them a spiritual toolkit. I access these tools as needed to help me continue on the path of being and staying clean. My spiritual toolkit includes meetings, working the Steps, calling my sponsor or a friend in recovery, and practicing prayer and meditation. It also includes the slogans, affirmations, and learning to focus on my physical well-being as well as my mental, spiritual, and emotional health.

I recently heard something new: that our disease of addiction has a toolkit too! Actually, it’s more like a cache of weapons! It contains things like fear, shame, guilt, pride, and making comparisons. Now, when those thoughts creep in, I remember they are part of my addiction, and I turn to my recovery toolkit to handle them. I remember that comparing my insides to another’s outside is never helpful. When I feel shame or guilt, I try to remember to call someone to talk it through so I can move through those feelings. I know that pain is inevitable, but that suffering is optional. With my spiritual toolkit, I can relieve my unnecessary suffering much quicker than before recovery.

Final thought: Today, I go through my day with my spiritual toolkit always ready by my side.