How to Find Serenity Daily

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
  -Reinhold Niebuhr

I say this prayer every morning.

Sometimes I say this prayer at night.

And, then there are days when I say this prayer every hour.

I marvel at how some writers can put words on paper and when they are finished, those words are truly life changing.  This prayer is that for millions of people – myself included.

But doesn’t being granted serenity sound like a tall order?  Who do you know that is serene?  I think my dog, Winston, is the only truly serene being I know personally.

So is serenity possible? 

I believe it is.

Maybe we just need to look at it a bit differently.

God, grant me the serenity: Here we’re asking our Higher Power (or whatever you call your Source) to grant us peace of mind; to give us the power to go to a place of calm and quiet in our heads and our hearts.

To accept the things I cannot change: Ok, this is a biggie for me.  Accepting the things we cannot change means we need to let go of our (imagined) control of a certain situation.  This can be a challenging idea to grasp, especially in a world that is all about power and control.  In reality, we really have no control over anything except ourselves – our thoughts, our attitudes, our beliefs, our behavior.  And doesn’t it make perfect sense that accepting what we cannot change would lead us to serenity, rather than resistance?

Courage to change the things I can:  Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to make changes in our lives.  As we evolve and grow, we might discover we’ve outgrown certain beliefs or our jobs or some of the people in our lives.  It takes real courage to honor our true self and make the necessary changes in our life in order to live it authentically.  Change isn’t always easy.  That’s not what this part says. If it were easy, we wouldn’t need courage.

And wisdom to know the difference:  This is the stickler for me – knowing the difference.  When we listen to our EGO (Edging God Out) – that loud voice that needs to be right and win – we can’t possibly have that wisdom.  This is when we need to take some time to ourselves, get quiet, and listen to the softer voice within.  That’s when we’ll receive the wisdom.

When we practice this in our life, we see change happening.

Sometimes in small things and sometimes in the really big stuff.

Friends and family will notice the subtle changes.

They might wonder what’s going on with you.

They may ask if you’ve taken up yoga or changed your hairstyle.

That’s when you know you have it.

Serenity.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

 

What challenges are you facing right now?  Let’s work on them together and get some serenity in your life!