The serenity prayer…with a twist

God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.

~ Author Unknown

Something to think about…

The more we are in concert with God, the greater will be our pleasures in life.  Recognizing our partnership with our higher power makes every decision easier, facilitates the completion of every task, and removes all uncertainty about our value to this world, particularly to those persons around us.

Knowledge that we are never alone, that in every circumstance our best interests are being cared for, softens whatever blow we encounter.  The blows teach us; they are the lessons the inner self has requested, and let us never forget we have a ready tutor to see us through every assignment.

The more we rely on God to see us through the mundane activities as well as the troubling experiences, the greater will be our certainty that all is well, our lives are on course, and a plan is unfolding little by little that has our best interests at its center.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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The Serenity Prayer

Made of license plates

A New Serenity Prayer

A New Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the people I cannot change,
which is pretty much everyone,
since I’m clearly not you, God.
At least not the last time I checked.

And while you’re at it, God,
please give me the courage
to change what I need to change about myself,
which is frankly a lot, since, once again,
I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect.
It’s better for me to focus on changing myself
than to worry about changing other people,
who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying,
I can’t change anyway.

Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up
whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter
than everyone else in the room,
that no one knows what they’re talking about except me,
or that I alone have all the answers.

Basically, God,
grant me the wisdom
to remember that I’m
not you.

Amen.

~ Fr. James Martin, SJ

Mastery over our attitudes

We can’t control the events of our lives, but we do have mastery over our attitudes.  The chances will be many, today, to react negatively or positively to circumstances we find ourselves in.  We can consider that each circumstance has something special in it for us.

Positive expectations regarding the planned as well as the spontaneous activities of the day will influence the activity’s flow, our involvement with it, and our interactions with the other people involved.  A positive attitude seems to breed positive experiences.  In other words, we attract into our lives that which we expect.  How often do we get up angry, feeling behind when the day has only begun, short-tempered with our children, “ready” for a tough one at work?  And we generally find it.

The Serenity Prayer offers us all the knowledge, all the wisdom we’ll ever need.  We can accept what has to be, change what we can, and not get confused between the two.  We can inventory our attitude.  Are we taking charge of it?  Our attitude is something we can change.

I won’t get trapped today by a negative attitude.  I will accept the challenge of turning my day around.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

The Serenity Prayer

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.