Serenity Prayer
“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.
My grandmother kept a copy of the Serenity Prayer on her bathroom mirror. Today, I honor her by doing the same. I remember visiting her as a young girl and reading the prayer in her bathroom every morning. What I mainly remember is thinking, “This is a ridiculous prayer! If there is a problem, I know that if I try hard enough, I can solve or fix it!”
Many years and many trials later, I have learned the truth of the Serenity Prayer the hard way. There are so many things I cannot change. The only thing I can change is myself and my reactions to others and to the situations I encounter. I cannot change others. I try to share my firsthand experience with spiritual friends, but others like me often need a firsthand rather than a secondhand experience to see this truth.
I wonder whether it took my adoring grandmother as long as it did me to discover the truth and learn to live it.
I wonder whether she has as many setbacks as I often do—thinking I can change situations and others.
