Serenity Prayer
- God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change,
- courage to change the things I can
- and the wisdom to know the difference.
The above prayer can mean a lot of things to different people. I first learned about it in Al-Anon. It is used to teach us what we can control and what we can’t, this is especially difficult when you are dealing with a family member suffering from addiction. You think you can control the addict and their behavior so that you can fix things, but really I learned the only thing I can control is my thoughts, feelings and actions. I used to use this prayer to help me realize what I should do and what I shouldn’t do when dealing with my addicted relative. I found it very helpful in piecing my life back together. When you are so involved with an addict your life can spiral out of control and you can feel very powerless. This prayer helped me to understand my place and that it is okay to have boundaries.
Sometimes I think about this prayer when I am feeling the pressure of day to day life. I will tell myself to also remember that I am doing the best I can with the situation.
I would enjoy feedback if anyone else ever uses this prayer. Please send me a comment 🙂
~Sara
On the Brighter Side 