What the Serenity Prayer means to me...
Redmayne
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Manchester, England, UK.
Posts: 1,543
What the Serenity Prayer means to me...
Epictetus, one of the great Stoic philosophers along with Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, unwittingly interpreted for me , the Serenity Prayer in a manner which not only added to but enhanced my recovery ... by dividing those things not in our control and those that are into two zones. I will explain...
'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,'
Epictetus, Zone 2 - we have no control over, nor can we change,
our body
our property
our reputation
our job
our parents
our friends
our co-workers
our boss
the weather
the economy
the past
the future
the fact we're going to die
accepting we can exercise an element of control over our body by way of diet and exercise, we cannot stop it aging.
'The courage to change the things I can,'
Epictetus, Zone 1, in our control, our opinions often born out of our perception. Alcoholism is often referred to as 'The Disease of Perception' as well as that of Ignorance.
'And the wisdom to know the difference.'
Some assistance can perhaps be gained in understanding this by Marcus Aurelius saying,'Everything you hear is opinion not fact,
Everything you see is perception, not the truth.'
All of which has taken me away from the delusional thinking I pursued in my drinking days in my dealings with life itself into living in recovery a more peaceful, calmer , fruitful existence as I hope it does for others to...after all that's the object of both the Serenity Prayer and recovery itself.
'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,'
Epictetus, Zone 2 - we have no control over, nor can we change,
our body
our property
our reputation
our job
our parents
our friends
our co-workers
our boss
the weather
the economy
the past
the future
the fact we're going to die
accepting we can exercise an element of control over our body by way of diet and exercise, we cannot stop it aging.
'The courage to change the things I can,'
Epictetus, Zone 1, in our control, our opinions often born out of our perception. Alcoholism is often referred to as 'The Disease of Perception' as well as that of Ignorance.
'And the wisdom to know the difference.'
Some assistance can perhaps be gained in understanding this by Marcus Aurelius saying,'Everything you hear is opinion not fact,
Everything you see is perception, not the truth.'
All of which has taken me away from the delusional thinking I pursued in my drinking days in my dealings with life itself into living in recovery a more peaceful, calmer , fruitful existence as I hope it does for others to...after all that's the object of both the Serenity Prayer and recovery itself.
Redmayne
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Manchester, England, UK.
Posts: 1,543
Thank you....
Thank you...I must admit in pursuing my efforts to make spiritual progress, started early last year, in taking an interest in Stoic philosophy, its principles and practices. By reading Patrick Usshers excellent book 'Stoicism Today: Selected Writings' and Jules Evans,'Philosophies for Life and Other Dangerous Situations ' both made reference to, it and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) links to the Serenity Prayer, which opened new doors for me...
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