The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
My mother taught me the Serenity Prayer when I was about fourteen years old. She would get frustrated with me thinking I could change the world single-handedly. I doubt knowing about the Serenity Prayer at that age made a lot of difference or calmed my delusions of grandeur, but I have never forgotten it.
Since then, I've learned the Serenity Prayer has greater significance than to temper a teenager's unrealistic aspirations. It was written by Reinhold Niebuhr in the 1930's, part of a longer version asking God for help in being happy despite less than perfect circumstances. It was adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and is an important tenet in their program. It is good advice for just about anyone.
We offer the Serenity Prayer on glass stones, Amazing Seabeans and our gorgeous new Inspirational Glass Plaques. It's gratifying to know that by people giving others gifts, we've had a small role in introducing folks to the Serenity Prayer.