Determine What You Can and Cannot Change

So often we worry about things that are not in our power to change. This is a waste of time and energy. Instead, we must ask God to show us what to take action on and what to let go of. 

The well-known Serenity Prayer is a great way to ask God for help in doing this. It begins “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.”  You might even want to say this prayer out loud, write it out or memorize it. 

Determine what you can and cannot change and unnecessary worry will fade away on this “Not Gonna Worry” Wednesday. 

The Full Serenity Prayer :

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. 

Living one day at a time, 
Enjoying one moment at a time, 
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace, 
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world 
As it is, not as I would have it; 
Trusting that You will make 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

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