My Toolbox

I don’t know why, but over the years I’ve really been obsessed from time to time with tools. Having just the right tool for every occasion seems like a good thing—and yes, maybe I have the tendency to go overboard. (A little bit.)

I’ve picked up a lot of tools in the years I’ve been sober. Some tools help me look at myself, and others just make life easier for me—and for those who must live with me! I use them as I need them, and I try to maintain them in good working order and close at hand. Since my toolbox is full of little tools as well as some big wrenches, I find it useful to look them over from time to time, just to remember that I have them.

That was the case for me recently, after I got out of my routine during a vacation. Shortly after arriving back home from a 4,000-mile trip, I realized I needed to readjust some attitude settings. (Actually, I needed more than a few minor adjustments!)

Lots of tools were available. Calling a trusted friend was the big wrench that got me completely out of my head. It was soon obvious to both of us that I had become self-obsessed with getting back on track. A much-loved metaphor of shifting the steering wheel back and forth a tiny bit to stay on course came to mind. No, I wasn’t unique. “Maybe you just need a series of small adjustments,” he suggested. “You might want to leave the big hammer alone.”

Another tool I used was to deliberately spend more time with God and increase the time I spent in prayer and Bible reading in the morning. (Funny how sometimes, I edge God out when I’m on vacation. Why? I’m not sure yet. But I’m looking into that.)

I also made a point of doing some of the chores around my apartment with a new perspective—I get to have a living space that I love, I reminded myself. Whatever problems I have, they are quality problems today.

But something was still missing, so I looked in my toolbox again. As I did, my phone dinged. A message from one of my closest friends caught my attention. He had felt the need to reset his day, so he’d pulled out the tool I was looking for—a gratitude list.

Ah! That’s the very thing I’ve been missing, I thought. A good dose of gratitude is like drinking a wonderful glass of water in the morning. It primes the pump for more gratitude and focuses me on the joy of living for that day.

A Bible verse came to mind: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

Yes. A list of things I’m really grateful for can change my day, and it’s one of the best tools I know to remind me of how much God loves me. That, in turn, affects how I feel about myself, and it inevitably changes how I feel about others.

I well remember the first time I heard that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits, and that when my heart is brimming with gratitude, it must surely result in outgoing love for God and for my fellow man.

It’s hard to be hateful if you’re grateful, and a grateful heart will never drink.

I think I’ll just write a gratitude list.

Right now.

Wanna join me?