Serenity Prayer - Post Yours
 

Ok kids, today is a good day but it has some bad edges and i want to keep those edges where they belong but i feel them gnawing away trying to get close, so I will say the Serenity Prayer right now, i will say it when i am walking at the park and thinking of my father, thinking of the ruins of a life i left behind, thinking of the future that may or may not be. Just trying to stay off the grog today - trying to keep the 'stuff' of life at bay, regretting the door i opened after so many years off the sauce, regretting the circumstances.

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.

Perhaps you can post your version ?

I gain a lot of meaning from the second part of this prayer;

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.

Another fave prayer = God, let me be the man my dog thinks I am

As a fairly new Episcopalian (since getting sober) I am partial to their "For Today" prayer, which in part reads:

O God:
Give me strength to live another day;
Let me not turn coward before its difficulties or prove recreant to its duties;
Let me not lose faith in other people;
Keep me sweet and sound of heart, in spite of ingratitude, treachery, or meanness;
Preserve me from minding little stings or giving them;
Help me to keep my heart clean, and to live so honestly and fearlessly that no outward failure can dishearten me or take away the joy of conscious integrity;

It's not a "Serenity Prayer", but it is my prayer, every night, although I have to admit, sometimes I forget. After I switch off the light, I sometimes just lie in the quiet for a few minutes; just reflecting on the day that's gone, and the hopes and dreams and plans for tomorrow. Then say goodnight to my little dog, and lastly, to God. This is my small prayer/conversation with Him:

Thank you God for one more day. One more day free of drink, free from the addiction which has been killing me. I know that I cannot do it without your help, and I ask that you be with me in my fight again tomorrow. And the day after, and the one after that. Please watch over my family and me, and help me make my dreams come true.
Night, Lord.

The original version covers it completely for me. My mom used to have a cross stitch of the Serenity Prayer right on the wall as you walked into our house when I was growing up. I never really thought about how relevant it might be in my life back then. Neither of my parents were alcoholics either - my mom rarely drank anyting at all - so it wasn't on the wall for that reason. It pretty much applies to life in general very well I think.

God
grant me the serenity
to accept the people i cant change
courage to change the one i can
and wisdom to know thats me.

and when im not spiritually fit

God,
HELP!

Simple

"F It" and move on with my day.

LOL, an old timer actually told me that was his version of the serenity prayer.

The past is done and dusted: if I switch off past thoughts, regrets, resentments, the past can no longer harm me.

The future is out of my hands: if I switch off fearful and anxious thoughts of what might be, the future cannot harm me in the present, now.

The present is mine: to do as I see fit and if I handle the present properly, I'll mould a better future, plus leave behind a better past, that I don't mind remembering.

Ekhart Tolle wrote once, "I am not these thoughts. Who am I? I am the one who recognizes this."
It reminds me that my thoughts are just thoughts...they come and they go. I am the master of my life and can choose to act on those thoughts or let them pass me by like mist in the morning.

I heard this recently at a workshop I attended:

God, grant us the serenity,
the accept the things we cannot change,
courage to change the things we can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

I loved the group-spin on it. It reminded me of where the big book mentions the "fellowship of the spirit".

I also think of the Beatles song "Let it Be" as a version of the Serenity Prayer.