God . . . .

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.

Serenity:  The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.                                                                    Courage:  The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc. without fear.                                                                                                                                                     Wisdom:  The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment.

I have to remember that the Serenity Prayer isn't so much about accepting stuff and changing stuff but rather about the serenity and courage that allows me to tolerate some asshole who is on my last nerve or to walk away from said asshole without behaving poorly.  From time to time I'll deal with someone who is on my last nerve in SuperK's presence and when I ask her afterwards if I behaved okay she invariably says something like "You were a dick" or "You know what you did."  I'm usually asking for her opinion when I think I'm being dickish because I don't ask for her opinion unless I'm pretty sure that's the case.  Her Dickish Meter is usually pretty accurate.

I like the definition of serenity.  What could be better than a day where I'm calm, peaceful, and untroubled?  In fact, that's really all I'm asking for in this life.  I also like the definition of courage which doesn't say we charge a Nazi machine gun nest and almost certainly die - it's about the quality of my inner core that allows me to buck up when difficult and painful things happen to me which they most certainly will.  And I don't want to forget that wisdom isn't just about being book smart but rather combining that with the life experiences I've had and the good judgment I've obtained through the hard lessons of really messing up from time to time.  "Intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle me" in other words.

I say this prayer every morning in my Quiet Time.  Then I say it again in a way that's easier for me to understand: "God, if I'm supposed to do something today help me do it and if I'm not supposed to do anything help me wait patiently and give me the wisdom to know which is which."