Serenity

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.

This prayer sat on our bathroom vanity for years. I read it probably 2 or 3 times per day. It never made sense to me, because I did not comprehend the word serenity.

Through a series of events, and a lot of surrender, I finally experienced serenity-inner peace. Once experienced, serenity became my preferred state of mind and the rest of the prayer made sense to me.

I came to know that there are lots of things in my life that I cannot change: people, places, weather and things. However, there are some big things that I can change: myself, my perception, my decision, and my attitude.

Figuring out these two things opened the door to wisdom in my life. I still forget that there are things I cannot change, and sometimes I don't have the courage to change the things I can. But when I do, my life is serene and I feel happiness and joy.

© 2010 by Becky Benes
www.onenessoflife.com

Stay in the Now

Lately, I have spent a lot of time in a day, thinking and focusing on happenings from my past and in my future. In so doing, I lost sight on the importance of today and my life filled with angst, worry, and regret. I definitely was not experiencing the presence of God and inner peace and serenity.

Staying in the Now moment is the only way, I have found to return to that peaceful place within myself, where I meet and experience God. When I am feeling peaceful and present in the Now, I am more attentive to those I love and the beautiful love messages from God. This is a practice, it is something I work on daily.

Of course, I have not mastered staying in the Now; however, with the practice of meditation and centering home with my breath, I am able to live more of my day in the Now. This is where the important things of life are born and experienced.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson

© 2010 by Becky Benes
www.onenessoflife.com

Acceptance is the Key

Life is filled with diverse situations, struggles, and celebrations, all of which may bring about distress, angst and/or joy. My acceptance of life's circumstances determines whether they have a positive or a negative impact on my life.

When I have a problem with someone, some place, or some situation in my life, it is usually because I find it/them unacceptable to me. When I find something outside myself unacceptable, it creates disharmony and discourse in my life and I experience discontentment. In order, to live in serenity or contentment, I must accept people, places and things just as they are, perfect at this moment in time.

I must decide, either God is all that is, or God is nothing. If God is all there is, then all in creation must be exactly the way it is created to be at this moment. For me, there are no mistakes in God's world. When I accept this as my truth, I find happiness, serenity, and a peace that surpasses all understanding.

This sounds easier said than done, so I constantly use the Serenity Prayer to help me practice the art of acceptance.

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Make a list of the things that you currently cannot accept.

Decide which ones you have the power to change, and take action on those.

On the ones which you have no power or control, pray the Serenity Prayer and release them.

Let Go and Let God.

Change-A constant in my life

As I walk along this journey of life, I have found that the one for sure thing in life is change. We change, our circumstances change, our family and friends change, our bodies change, our thinking changes, our environment changes and on and on it goes.

Even though I know this is true, I still cause myself misery because I do not accept the change in my life or I resist it. It is amazing how I can pray for change and then when I receive it I cling to the old, because I fear the unknown that lies ahead.

Knowing that God is ever present in my life of change allows me to move forward stepping out in faith into the unknown. I love the scripture, "The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established" (Proverbs 19:21). This tells me that I can make all of the plans I want and God will allow me to do what I will, but the outcome is up to the will of God. I don't know about you but this relieves some of the pressure of trying something new.

One of my favorite prayers that I have used for years to get through change is the Serenity Prayer.

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 pray this constantly if I am faced with a challenging situation. What I know is I can not change another person, and really the only thing I can change is my attitude about whatever is in my life right now. It is my job to keep my side of the street clean and allow you to live your life. This takes lots of courage.

Gandhi says this beautifully: We must be the change we wish to see in the world.

So go out and be that change. I want to be peace, love, harmony, acceptance and wisdom. What do you want to be?