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My family has been going through some trouble lately because of a certain corporation and their attempts on our property and we’ve been running around talking to lawyers and government offices to ask for help. My mother has gotten sick due to the stress, and we haven’t been able to rest well due to worry.
For times like this, I suddenly remembered a simple prayer I learned from my old college. It’s called the “Serenity Prayer”, written by Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971) long ago.
The Serenity Prayer (short version)
“God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
the courage to change the things we can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
(Note: For the complete version of the serenity prayer, click here.)
In life, we shall always face problems. From final exams in school to finding a job after graduation, raising children to handling your parents’ and family members’ deaths, we will never run out of things we need to take care of. When trying times come, we’ll likely be worried and stressed, and it may be difficult to find a solution.
We and our loved ones can get sick, get into accidents, grow old, and die. There are also times when natural disasters strike, or when someone else’s actions harm us in one way or another. While we might not be able to change the circumstances that happen, we can still change how we REACT to everything that happens.
If others harm us, we can fight back or hurt others, but those reactions will likely leave us worse off. On the other hand, we can settle things peacefully and lawfully, and those will likely have better results.
There are many things in life that we cannot avoid, like important life milestones and funerals, and we must learn to prepare for them and face them when they come. There are also things we CAN control and change, and for those, we must make whatever effort we can and whether we succeed or fail we have to learn to accept the results.
When we get stressed and tired because of the storms we face in life, it’s nice to find a bit of time for ourselves and think. Like what the prayer said, we must learn to accept what we cannot change, and find the strength and courage for troubles that we can.
For now, I’ll leave you with one final lesson I learned from a Philosophy teacher from college. Whatever problem is happening to us right now remember that “this too, shall pass.” There is an end to everything, including problems that we face.
I hope you enjoyed this short lesson of mine, and may you be blessed with wisdom and courage for the trying times to come. If you want to learn more, check out our article list here!
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