Serenity Prayer

            God, give us grace to accept with serenity.
            
            
            
            
            
            
             For so many people in desperate situations -- seeking peace, strength, and wisdom .
             -- those simple words have seen them through the darkest hours. .
             People have come to believe that those qualities can come only from a power .
             greater than themselves. And because they believe, they find the serenity, courage and .
             wisdom they seek from somewhere outside themselves to face another situation, another .
             step, and another day.
             The first line of the Serenity Prayer says "God, grant us the serenity to accept the .
             things we cannot change." There are two words in here that stood out from all the others .
             the very first time I heard this beautiful prayer. The words "serenity" and "accept." .
             The word "serenity" even sounds calm, peaceful, and tranquil. If we are able to .
             make ourselves serene, if we can stop long enough to rest and be at peace with .
             ourselves and the world around us . then maybe we can have enough serenity in our .
             lives to accept "the things we cannot change" simply because we are calm enough to know .
             we really don't have any other options.
             When I say "The courage to change the things we can," I am not talking about .
             changing others, I am mainly talking about changing myself. Many times we must set .
             boundaries, and in doing so, things change. All we can do is set the boundary and .
             enforce it. That is where the word "courage" comes in because in setting .
             boundaries, there is a risk. The risk is that the other person will not honor the boundaries. .
             In fact, in some case, they will not even acknowledge the boundaries. .
             Probably the most important word and, in my opinion, certainly the most .
             important phrase is the one I want to write about now. "The wisdom to know the .
             difference." If we have the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and go about .
             changing something that should not be changed, it could be disastrous. We need wisdom .
             to make sure that what we are about to change should be changed.