God grant me the Serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference
Seems there is a dispute about who originally wrote this very simple, very powerful prayer which you can read the article by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.
However, after a friend sent me the article, it got me thinking. Not about the dispute. That doesn't matter to me. But, about how important those 27 little words are to me.
Having sat through dozens of 12-step meetings where this prayer has been discussed in detail, picked apart and analyzed, it is amazing to me how important and meaningful each line of the prayer is to me and to others, as well. In my opinion, it is far and above any other prayer ever written and/or used today. It is short. It is simple. It is easy to remember. And, if used with all sincerity, it works.
You might remember by post of a couple of months ago when I wrote about prayer in my life. Seems I had a mind dump at the time and completely forgot about the Serenity Prayer. Duh. So, now I will back track and pick it apart myself, as I understand it. Here goes:
God grant me the serenity
Who doesn't want serenity? At some point in time we all crave it, want it and wonder where it is in our life. However, in order to truly find serenity, I must deal with all that is going on around me and find that right "place" in my mind and heart to be serene. Not as easy as it sounds. Yet, it can be found. On more and more occasions I find it - usually in nature and it other places, too. And, if I use this prayer as I should, I find it more and more.
To accept the things I cannot change
Ok - this is soooo hard. I'm a controlling person. Not a control freak, but I do have issues with control. So for me to say, "OK - this is what is happening. I can't alter what is going on so I will step back, let it go is like pulling all of my teeth. Since I tend to believe I am always right (until proven otherwise, which happens a lot!), I want things to go my way. Oh, acceptance - - - how difficult you are! Yet, this prayer, as a whole, helps me to find that acceptance.
The courage to change the things I can
I'm don't believe this means the type of courage it takes to run into a burning building to save a child. I'm believe these words are more personal. I believe I can basically only change myself. Yes, I can change my curtains, change my residence, change my job, but I can't change other people (as much as I would like to). To change myself take courage. To right a wrong I did or a flaw within me takes courage. I use to think I was an "afraidy cat." Afraid of all kinds of things. Once, while talking my friend, Sally, I told her this. She stared at me with a stunned look on her face. She then said, "Girl, you have supported yourself all your life. You have cleaned up your act when you stopped drinking, got out of an unhappy marriage, bought a 116 year old house, travel like crazy when you can and basically take care of yourself very well. Look at all you have done. You can't be "afraid" and do all that." That was a verbal slap upside the head. She was right. It took courage for me to realize that I wasn't afraid to take risks, to take leaps of faith. It all takes courage.
And the wisdom to know the difference
Aha! This is the kicker. The wisdom to know the difference. This is the hardest. To recognize what battles to fight, what steps to take, what decisions to make - whoosh! To know when to hang in there and when to walk away - it's hard! The courage to accept or to accept the courage to act? But, slowly, very slowly, by using this prayer the answers, the wisdom, will always come, if I am listening
I have seen and heard many variations of this prayer. There all the same - the meaning and intent is always the same. I even have a Pagan version written down some place. But it really doesn't matter if the words vary a little. If used, it works. At least for me.
2 comments:
I've always loved the Serenity Prayer. Its complete simplicity is a perfect 'ode to modern times'. I pray it everyday :)
Glad you found my commentary on the Serenity Prayer. Quickly looked over your blog. You are a very interesting person. I would love to learn more about essenial oils!
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