Serenity – Day 1

Your body is tense. Your face is somber and serious, ready to deliver the news. You may be slightly breathless. There’s a crisis. It may be real. Or it may be self-created.

Like an audience in a sports arena, we watch the events of life—or even The Weather Channel—drumming up reactive responses. Fear. Sometimes panic. “Oh my God, what if …”

I called my daughter in this frame of mind one morning, ready to report on the latest current event in my life. I barely had three words out of my mouth when she interrupted me.

“You’re talking in your drama-addiction tone.”

“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.” I’ve probably said this prayer out loud a thousand times, and silently twice that amount. It’s called the Serenity Prayer, not the Courage Prayer, not the Wisdom Prayer. That is because, no matter what we’re doing, before we receive courage or wisdom, serenity needs to come first.

I recall talking to a friend during the height of my drama-addiction years. If possible, he thrived on drama more than I. We were discussing our problem with drama addiction and possible solutions.

“When I think about living without drama, everything just seems so plain, so boring,” I said.

“I know,” he said. “I’m just not sure I’m ready to let that addiction go.”

Value: Serenity is the value for this week. Don’t panic. And if we do, we can make it a priority to calm ourselves before we do anything else.

From the book: 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact

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