For years I have been searching for the perfect metaphor for life, analyzing every Vanilla Ice lyric ever written, trying to find some sort of simple way to sum up this world we live in.

And just as I was beginning to lose hope — it hit me.

Life is a toolbox.

Before I expand, let me share how I came up with this brilliance.

The best way the men in my family bond is by fixing things. There’s just no better bonding experience than spending the afternoon in the garage with our dad.

But no matter what we’re fixing, there is always one tool that we absolutely must have that is missing.

And every time my dad can’t find a tool, he blames one of us for losing it. Occasionally he’ll even go out on a limb and ask if one of our friends took it.

Yeah, I can think of plenty of times when I called up my buddies and said, “Hey, my dad got some new tools, you guys want to come over and play with them.” No, I don’t think so.

Anyway, this exact thing happened a couple of weekends ago and I began thinking a little more about my dad’s toolbox and why there is always something missing.

Then I figured it out. What else always seems like there is something missing out of it? Life.

Can you think of a time when you looked inside your own lifebox and found that everything was there? Probably not.

And what’s the first thing we do when we notice something missing from our life? We find someone to blame it on.

So I started thinking about this toolbox/life thing and came up with some other simple metaphors.

The actual toolbox is ourself — our mind, our heart and our soul — and all the tools in the box make up everything in it.

The hammer, by far the most important tool in the toolbox, is our family. It’s almost always reliable.

The screwdriver is an obvious one — our significant other. They come in so many different shapes and sizes and always end up screwing you somehow.

You could argue the wrench is the significant other, but rather than worry about it, we’ll go with the wrench as our boss. It has one major job — to guide nuts into their respective positions.

Duct tape is our religion, our saviour. It grips everything together and serves as the major tool for security. When another tool isn’t doing the job, you can look to duct tape for assistance.

A socket set is our group of friends. You never know which one to go to first when you are in need. Sometimes they can be a ton of help while other times they just add confusion to whatever you are doing (what is it, lefty loosey…).

Although every socket looks the same, there is always one thing one socket can do that you can’t.

Sand paper is our education. It’s rough most of the time but when it’s all over and done with, it gets the job done. It’s by far the most monotonous tool in the box.

Pliers is our entertainment. Whether it’s TV, Sega or a late night at the bar, this tool has a tight grip on everything we do.

With each of these tools serving a vital role in our lives, it’s no wonder we tend to flip out a little when one is missing. But the beauty behind it all is that these tools don’t really disappear.

Every time my dad and I start a new project and discover a new tool gone, it just so happens that we find the missing tool from the last project.

Our lives aren’t missing anything, we just don’t keep a good enough eye on all our tools. Our tools are all there, we’re just not looking hard enough to find them.

“My family are real decent, hardworking people. They’re the fabric of America. They are not impressed with fame or celebrity — they don’t want to live vicariously through me.”

— Vanilla

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Corey Moss is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale.