The Serenity Prayer - Acceptance and Courage
"God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
That's the original.
Below is an altered version that is used in places like Alcoholics Anonymous:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference."
Universal and Individual Perspectives
Notice how the altered version shifts the focus from a universal general scope of what should be changed, to a particular specific individual you, "I", can change. This subconsciously primes you to shift your perspective and consciously focus on yourself and what you can and can't change about yourself. It becomes about you, instead of what can change in you and in the world.
The Serenity Prayer is not only about you though, not only about a personal thing in your life that you can change. That's a part of life that any basic animal has to contend with. But there is a larger picture at play in life that doesn't revolve around you at the center. The real Serenity Prayer plays on this understanding of a being part of something larger that all religions and group ideologies tap into to get you to join.
The Serenity Prayer is a religious ideology-based meaning, a prayer, but that's not all it's about. You don't need some imagined externalized idea to give you power that you actually derive yourself. It all comes from you, consciousness. You are the power that gives yourself grace and serenity by your own actions. You judge, insult and offend yourself by your own actions.
We can raise ourselves to higher levels of consciousness and awareness of better ways to live, which is also the symbolism of having "Christ within", "God within" or the "kingdom of heaven" being within. It's not literal (I have talked about literal vs. symbolic meaning in some posts before).
This is about the idea of good, related to what is right and true for living, which is what morality is all about understanding for our lives together. Care for others is required, not simply caring about ourselves alone in a self-centered egoistic ego-centric polarized imbalance.
Agape, Universal Being
There is a concept of care for others as well, rather than simply ourselves, and expanding that care to the whole world we affect, called agape. This is known as a form of so-called "love", described as a universal "love" or care. Not really emotional, but more of a state of being. Your concern broadens outside of your little bubble of reality to look at all of reality together.
Agape is the higher truer greater universal care component to our individual care. Care can grow and expand. Agape is a care/"love" for the world and the larger picture.
It requires a care for truth and learning about what is really going on in order to be an informed and empowered position to affect change at a root causal level. Not to try to affect foolish change from a position of ignorance simply because we want to get something done, yet are too impatient to learn more first. Truth takes time.
Changes
What can't be changed?
Laws in the universe.
What already happened.
Don't try to fight gravity, or other laws in operation. Don't try to fight the past, or try to change it, driving yourself mad with "what if" you had done something different. Learn from the mistake, sure, recognize how you could have made better choices, but then move on because you can't change what already happened. Work towards a better future from the past that can't be changed.
What can change?
How we think.
How we feel.
How we act.
This encompasses everything that is created in the human world we create. Our way of livingon this planet can change.
Consciousness can change and affect different actions and behavior into existence. The more we understand how to behave towards others in greater moral dimensions, the more things can change for the better. If we deny the inherent natural social factors of human existence, which can be objectively known, then we deny reality and truth, and we will not work towards our own betterment or that of the world in general.
The different versions of the prayer of serenity once more demonstrate the power of language to affect and influence consciousness and behavior. The original has a more accurate rendering of our ability and power to change ourselves and the condition of the world, showing us where we need to also pay attention: the world we are a part of, and not a narrow minded focus on ourselves alone.
Any day of the year we can remember the Serenity Prayer and use it to remind us we can change things in the larger world, not only in ourselves or our own small personal lives.
Thank you for your time and attention. I appreciate the knowledge reaching more people. Peace.
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In my younger years for three years I attended CODA which was a 12 step support group for folk who were emotionally dependent. It was similar to AA but different. We would say the serenity prayer at the end of the meeting. If everyone took time to say it and live it we would have a much better world. Thanks @krnel
It can indeed help to provide more clarity in dealing with situation .
I was not aware that there was an original Serenity Prayer and that it had been modified for the purposes of AA. I can understand why they made the changes, though.
I think the central problem with alcoholics and people who are addicted to alcoholics is the focus on other people and how other people should be. The purpose of the modifications of the original Serenity Prayer is to encourage, as you seem to have observed, a return to focus on oneself for change.
While it is possible to differ on whether either prayer is universal or personal, both seem to share the same idea: acceptance of what we cannot change and a call to take notice of what we can change.
As much as I like The Serenity Prayer, there is one that I like even more:
All of these prayers are open ended, and they are for nothing specific. The prayer that I cite above for example is about as open ended as one can be, and is clearly a request, not a made to order wish.
I too, would like to make the world a better place. But as the prayers above suggest, I may not always be the best judge of what makes the world a better place. So with these prayers, I can ask for guidance in times of doubt.
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah they can help, my point is that even if we can't change things because they are bigger than us, doesn't mean we can't try to change them, because they can be changed. We can and should by working together to make things better ;)
As our perspective changes, that which appears as "real" to us will also change. A changing world cannot ultimately be "real", for the definition of "real" is that of a self-perpetuating state, hence changeless. Having said that, has our entire experience been "real" to begin with? No, as all is consistently shifting, anything we ever experience is never given more reality than that of a dream. We are eternally dreaming.
This is the Universal insight I have been receiving again and again. Having said that, "real" Knowingness doesn't exist from my experience because it is always shifting, never stagnant. No wonder there goes the adage " the older I get the more I realize that I know nothing" Love is a state of Being. Any thought processes trying to give meaning to Love and Truth lends them a reality they doesn't deserve.
Great that you came up with the Serenity prayer ;)
I felt quite at home reading this :)
Real doesn't mean unchanging. Time involves change. Something happens at point A, then it;s gone at point B, in time. When it happened, it was part of reality, then it is gone. I can walk, it's real. Then when I stop walking, the walking I did in the past doesn't cease to have been real when it happened, it was just part of the reality of the past that didn't continue into the future.
We all freely choose our point of view, and the world/universe faithfully gives us what we ask for.
Your thoughts resemble mine as to reality, to life being a dream, and to love being connection (as I would put it). I define love as "wholesome connection". Here is the back of my business card. WDYT?
Well, I think with your business card alone your work has already been done! :)
I give these out every day whenever possible, telling each person to use this card as a "moral compass" to get them through bad days.
Great! These kind of reminders help tremendously. :)
Men in particular are very good at taking a bad day and making it worse by doing something stupid.
I liked your post it's hard to change but i read often the sentence of your incipit when i feel upset and it's helpful...
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Genius is a great post, so you countless
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its very nice..thanks for sharing