By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
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.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Almost everyone has heard of The Serenity Prayer in the context of 12-Step programs. Almost everyone has heard or knows the first four lines of this prayer. Some even know the next two.
However, no one knows the rest of it.
Let me focus on the next line — “accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.”
Few of us find acceptance as being easy.
We fight with reality as though we can win the fight or the argument with it.
We deny the truth of our circumstances.
We are unprepared to accept.
Even when we believe we can make a change, we want it done NOW! We are unprepared for the time it may take to affect change, whether in ourselves and others.
Accepting circumstances as they are, requires we surrender.
We are not capable at this time.
We can try to fight, but, as AA teaches, there are certain things we are powerless over.
It isn’t giving up.
It isn’t “facing facts.”
It is accepting that we cannot change certain things.
We can do better when we collaborate with others to affect the change we want.
Yes, winners do find the way to win, and losers do find a way to lose.
Accepting circumstances as they are does not mean you’re a loser.
It doesn’t mean that, right now, you haven’t figured out how to win.
As the prayer points out, life has hardship. It may take time.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2021
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a career and leadership coach who worked as a recruiter for more than 40 years. He is the host of “No
BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 2000 episodes. He also hosts Job Search TV on YouTube, Amazon and Roku, as well as on BingeNetworks.tv for Apple TV and 90+ smartsets.
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