Debunking the Serenity Prayer
Wow. I have just had my mind blown. A book I received yesterday debunked the Serenity Prayer! You know the prayer that says 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? Just say this prayer and somehow it gets you through, right?
Well, in this book, called Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, by the same guys at VitalSmarts who wrote Crucial Conversations, they say…that’s the problem. We tell ourselves we aren’t influencers and so we seek serenity…or complacency. This would be a fine tactic if it weren’t for the list of challenges we face today.
Because of the amazing time we live on the planet, we get the chance to be people with the wisdom to MAKE a difference. As they say in the introduction “We should be seeking to expand the list of things we can change so that we don’t need to seek serenity so often….Instead of owning up to our responsibility of beoming effective agents of change and then going about the task of improving our influence repertoire (much like an athlete funning laps or a chess player learning moves), we grumble, threaten, ridicule,and, more often than not, find ways to cope….we are wonderful at inventing ways to cope.”
And I would add, this is worth considering so we don’t have to settle for feeling helpless so often, whether it’s with our teenagers, our workplace or the political “process”.
Now, I’m only into the 2nd chapter so far, but I’ve got to say, this lights me up. This feeds my soul. It feels like hope and it feels like a guidebook on the path of meaningful existence that I’m here to take.
Three other books I’ve read lately are in this vein: 1) Concious Evolution, by Barbara Marx Hubbard; 2) Writing to Change the World, by Mary Pipher an 3) The Art of Possibility, by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander.
Wake up and, as Ghandi says, be the change you wish to see in the world.
Happy Solstice! The Sun returns, and so can we.
December 22nd, 2007 at 2:33 am
Hope is right - what a perfect post for me to come across right now (and this my first time on your blog). I read it and it filled me fire of hope too. Then I went to yoga and during my class I thought about the serenity prayer and thought that maybe it to accept what is so we can be clear headed & ready to take action. Also, “…we are wonderful at inventing ways to cope” is an important thing to remember for me - as I always say we can rationalize anything. Thank you.