God grant me the serentity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the courage to know the difference. Repeating this prayer during times of distress or anger helps me. I ask myself can I change the situation ? What can I do to change the situation ? Most of the time I am getting angry over the actions of other people. Either I can accept these people the way they are or remove them from my life.
All three key points go hand in hand. Acceptance, courage and wisdom. The wisdom to know the difference. This is the line I most focus on. Some of us are more courageous than others. We need an extra nudge to push us to reach our goal. I am sometimes in situations that I wish I could change but am not sure if I should even try. Will it be a futile effort? I ask myself. They saying goes with knowledge come power. Knowing when to accept things the way they are or fight the battle is important. This is especially true when dealing with people. We cannot change another person's behavior as much as we'd like to we have to accept them. If they are in a self destructive state however this is where the courage to help them comes in.
Acceptance, Courage and Wisdom. Short, sweet and to the point. In the past I find myself getting into arguements just for the sake of arguing. Now if the argument is ego based I try and walk away. On the other hand, it doesn't mean you have to be a doormat. For a lot of people they need to learn how to use the word "NO".
My mom keeps telling me the same. When something bad happens to let it go and move forward. There are some things that we cannot change in life however much we stress about it. Learning when to let go is the greatest gift for living a stress free life. That said taking a moment to mourn the loss does not make us weak.
That prayer is so great. It is true; we can accept or let it go. We cannot let it consume us. Change is always up to that person. Its ok to take a breath and accept those things that we cannot change.