Spiritual Toolkit

“When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.” Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 25The truth is that when I came in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, I was a broken man. “How had my life become a life reliant on drugs and alcohol to function?” I asked myself. Without drugs and alcohol, I did not know how to handle life on life’s terms. My only hope was to find a sufficient substitute by which I could navigate my way through life’s challenges.What was this substitute to be? I was told that I would need to find a higher power that I could turn my will and my life over to. As I began to make contact with this higher power, a sense of freedom did come, but I learned that my higher power would not do for me what I could already do for myself. When problems arose that I was meant to handle, what then?My sponsor told me that I had all the tools right in front of me, I just had to pick them up and use them. I wanted these tools to be a sword to slash away my fears and a shield to block the parts of life that I didn’t want to face. I came to find that the tools were much more simple. Tools like prayer and meditation, reaching out to others for help and advice, working the 12 Steps. It was through practicing and trying to perfect these tools that I have been able to stay sober through what life has thrown at me.