Surrender In the Serenity Prayer

In Step Three, the Serenity Prayer is introduced. It goes like this:

God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done today.

This simple prayer has been extraordinarily helpful for me on my recovery journey. At different times, different words would provide me the guidance I needed. Before I came to the program anytime that I was faced with an issue, I was not able to respond with serenity or courage. If there was a situation that I could not change, I would experience self-pity or a victim mentality and act out. If there was a situation that required courage, I would shrink into my passivity and flee by acting out.

Now through the program I can approach these situations differently. For things that I cannot change, whether it be the pain of those I’ve hurt or a situation that I can not change, I now am able to experience serenity. For situations that need courage, I’m able to find that with the help of my Higher Power. It is surprising the sort of situations, difficulties and decisions that I am able to tackle that I wasn’t able to in the past.

As I walk in this path, I am growing in wisdom to know the difference between things I cannot change and the things that I can. It is through surrendering to my Higher Powers will that this is happening.