Serenity and Elvis and Making Peace with Your Life

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.

I grew up with this prayer and I have to admit I hated it.  It seemed so weak and wimpy.  Maybe because it was one of those responsive readings, and hearing a hundred or more people muttering it on a Sunday morning made the prayer seem embarrassing or silly.

As an adult I ran into it again in various 12-step programs.  Again, it was muttered by the attendees, but since it's Portland, the "God" part was taken out, so we could be addressing whatever divinity or life force or universe we preferred.  (This is the city that houses the Church of Elvis, after all!)

But just a few years ago I ran across another bunch of 12-steppers who did not hurriedly mumble their supplication, reading if from a card or paper.  Instead, they had it memorized and, with heads up, loudly made their demands.

These men and women required serenity.  There were things in their lives beyond their control and they needed serenity to accept that fact.

They wanted courage.  Some things are within our control and must be addressed and changed, no matter how difficult, and so they wanted the courage to set to those difficult tasks.

And the demanded wisdom.  No sense in courageously attacking things beyond our control, now is there?

I loved these people for their faith and dependence and wisdom.  They knew what they wanted and they were not afraid to ask for it.

I thought of the prayer and that little band of stalwarts this morning when I finally decided, at 430, to go ahead and get out of bed.  My yesterday went from bad to worse (no, not MIL issues) and by 930 last night just about everything that could have gone wrong, had.  I won't bore you with details, but suffice it to say my doctor's visit wasn't a 100% happy one, I ended up being 2 hours late to work because of it (thank goodness for sick time to cover that), as the day ended I was handed info on 2 calls that I made that I will be reviewed on today and they were bad calls.  I have been tossing and turning and worrying and fretting all day and all through the night.  (Okay, not tossing and turning at work, but you get my meaning)

But about an hour ago I realized that what is done is done and it can't be undone.  No sense in fretting over it.  Learn from my mistakes and move on.  No, the review will not be pleasant.  And yes, my conviction that my manager doesn't like me will only be solidified by this process, so I will have to work on not taking anything personally, but professionally.  And no, the doctor's visit wasn't quite as positive as I would have liked, but he didn't shake his head and somberly pronounce me dead, so there's that to consider!  (I did have to laugh at my doc, because I think he might be 25 years old.  Or going on 25.  And he was acting all wise and grandfatherly with me as if he was the kindly family GP from a Norman Rockwell painting.  Not condescending or anything, just acting and speaking about 40 years older than he appears to be,)


Today, as I face the music at work and in other areas of my world, I will have to keep this in the forefront of my mind:

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.

And maybe I'll stop at church on the way in to work!