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USING THE “SERENITY PRAYER” AS A RESOURCE

Members of twelve-step recovery fellowships are familiar with a short devotion known as the “Serenity Prayer.” In its most common form, it asks a Higher Power to…

“. . . 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.”

In this form, it is attributed to German theologian Reinhold Neibuhr, although as he himself said, he may have encountered the prayer or some variant of it years earlier. It’s true that there are many similar prayers found in many different traditions dating back to antiquity. It was introduced into twelve-step recovery by a member who had encountered it and found it helpful. The “Serenity Prayer” soon became one of the favorite prayers of persons in recovery and today is recited at many twelve-step meetings.

One solution to restore balance in your daily experience of life is to consciously separate what you may want from the reality of the situation. It’s normal, natural, and understandable to want things the way you want them, but recovery requires an ability to accept the things you cannot change. Applying the “Serenity Prayer” and focusing consciously on identifying the things you cannot change, as well as what you can do to better accept those things, will make noticeable, positive, and healthy differences in your experience of life. It is essential to remember that one thing you can always change is how you respond to the people, events, and situations in your life.

You can incorporate the “Serenity Prayer” into your recovery and into the exercises in this five-year planner. People, places, and things—even some things about yourself—will not change for you. In some cases, you will need to change your reaction to them. In others, you need to simply accept them and move on to the best of your ability. Applying the “Serenity Prayer” as a tool to clarify the things you cannot change—and therefore need to find a way to accept—versus the things you can change, is a solution-oriented approach to achieving balance and strengthening your recovery. (Use extra pages if necessary; don’t be limited to writing in the blank spaces provided.)

Applying the “Serenity Prayer”

“…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.”

Related to your current life, identify something you cannot change and need to accept.

_____________________________________________________________________

Describe how you will begin to go about accepting it.

_____________________________________________________________________

Related to your current life, identify something you can change.

_____________________________________________________________________

Describe how you will begin to go about changing it.

_____________________________________________________________________

Describe how you can tell the difference between what you can and cannot change.

_____________________________________________________________________

In each of the following sections of this book, you will have an opportunity to use the Serenity Prayer as a resource for planning your future.

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