” 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.”
What a gem. A lil reality check and compass at the same time.
The beauty of this prayer lies its invitation to have us live our lives with flow, using the path of least resistance. Let’s face it. It takes as much energy to fight an unnecessary fight as it takes to curl up like a potato bug and pretend crap is not happening.
Wise people have used this prayer as a foundational rudder in their lives. It guides them to stand in their own truth, heal from their woes and exercise self and other compassion.
When applied to any conflictual situation in our lives, this prayer works like a genius challenging us to be present, conscious and deliberate with our thoughts and discerning with our choices.
So often we get confused about what we can control and not control. We waste precious energy trying to exert our control in circumstances that we have no business trying to manipulate. The results can be devastatingly far removed from our desired outcomes.
While this prayer doesn’t talk about power, it gives it to us.
Serenity is about acceptance. It’s a conscious, deliberate choice to choose peace instead. One of the most powerful affirmations I have learned is “I can choose peace instead of this.” This doesn’t mean the problematic situation evaporates. Rather, the liberation of spirit that occurs when this statement is expressed with genuine intent, is enough to chart a new path. In an instant, new awareness and possibilities are born.
Courage is about change. It’s a conscious choice to stand in your truth and to make a change that honors that truth. It’s about attending to something that is more important than the status quo. Growth, development, innovation and favorable co-created outcomes lie just beyond the status quo. If we reach for these things with courageous steps, they’re surprisingly always there, waiting for us to join them.
Both serenity and courage are self-applied. We cannot coax people into either. We simply choose for ourselves and when we do, magical things happen. We heal, we reprogram, we clear negative energies and we begin to operate from a place of fierce self-responsibility instead of fear, shame or blame. This is power.
We learn to stay in our own lane. Conflicts drop or are reframed. We see situations with clarity. We recognize blessings in even the most challenging situations we have endured and we become revitalized as we focus on ourselves and what we can do to bring resolution or remedy.
Wisdom greets us when we finally do the thing we know we should be doing or we move from the mindset of feeling threatened by circumstances to being ready to simply meet a challenge. Our innate power is cultivated by our choices to be serene and courageous and like bank deposits, these choices add up. Eventually and almost without noticing, we find we that we are aligned with our own innate knowing of what is best for us and our sense of personal power expands. Our perception about what is possible changes and we recognize that we can be excited about opportunities for change. We feel flow. We feel the true path of least resistance.
Applying the wisdom of this prayer in our life and work insists that we hold sacred space for the ah ha moment to occur within ourselves or for others. If we ask powerful questions, we receive powerful answers.
How would your life change if you choose peace instead? What is possible for you if you leave the status quo? What blessings in your life would you now be able to see?
Dare you to ask these questions. The joy of possibility, freedom and basking in the flow awaits.
Namaste.