Tools for Job of Life

"Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass and a book of rules;
And each must make, ere life is flown,"
A stumbling block or a stepping stone. - R.L. Sharpe

"Who would try to nail boards together without a hammer or change a flat tire with a jack? To deny our need for tools would be ridiculous, wouldn't it? Yet many of us have trouble accepting that we need tools to repair our damaged self-esteem.
. . . .

Why do we resist the idea that spiritual work, like physical work, has its own set of tools? Reading, sharing, praying, attending our support group's meetings - these are the tools that help us do the job. They aren't optional niceties or crutches.
. . . .

My willingness to use the tools determines the outcome of the job."

Today's content comes from Believing in Myself by Larsen & Hegarty.

My words:


Use your tools. 


What is one of your tools?

One of my tools is a walk outdoors.

Spiritual Affirmations by Philip St. Romain

Spiritual Affirmations

1. If God is for me, who can be against me?
2. I am lovable and acceptable because I exist – because God is choosing to love me into existence in this now-moment, and “God doesn’t make junk.
3. I know how to do many things that can contribute to the improvement of the human community. If I do not share my giftedness, it will be missed by others.
4. I do not judge myself as a bad person when I make mistakes or deviate from a social norm.
5. I do not judge myself as a bad person when I hut another with my behavior. I take responsibility for my behavior and make amends.
6. It is unreasonable for me to expect perfection of myself. I will do the best I can, and that is all that God expects.
7. I accept my physical appearance. If others reject me on t his basis, it is not because I am unlovable but because they are comparing my appearance to a social norm propagated largely by the media.
8. I accept all of my feelings, pleasant and unpleasant, knowing that I am more than my feelings. Feelings come and go. They do not reveal to me my true worth as a person. I do not define myself on the basis of my feelings but on my faith-convictions.
9. Other people have judged me and mistreated me, and this has affected my view of myself. I am more than what others have told me I am, so I do not accept their judgments of me.
10. I forgive everyone everything they have done that has hurt me, for I know that holding on to hurt and resentment will keep me from growing to be the person God created me to be.
11. I take responsibility for meeting my own needs in a moral and loving matter. It is not someone else’s responsibility to meet my needs.
12. I am in doubt about my beauty and worth. I ask God to help me to see and know myself as God sees and knows me.
13. Right now, I am where I should be in life. I have learned many lessons and have many more to learn. That is life: learning and growing. It is good for me to be here in life.
14. Right now, I have everything I need to be as happy as it is possible for me to be in this life. Therefore, I renounce the idea that my present circumstances are inadequate for happiness, that I need more of something or another, or that I need less of something or another. Happiness is an attitude, not an acquisition. In gratitude to God, I accept myself and my life just as they are.

From Handbook for Spiritual Growth by Philip St. Romain

Books by Philip St. Romain