Serenity Prayer

Sometimes I wake up with negative, frenzied worries, kind of like C. S. Lewis describes as the wild animals we have to chase away every morning. They are usually about the way things are going in the world. I'm working on what Thoreau called choosing "cheering thoughts," especially first thing in the morning. I recently heard this: "Start the day without a strong feeling. It's very freeing and refreshing not to begin the day with heavy baggage." I've decided it all comes down to having more faith in the whole plan. The other day I googled the serenity prayer that everybody knows. It was written by Dr. Reinhold Neibuhr in 1932 for the ending of a long prayer, adopted by AA in 1939, and is still used in a lot in 12-step programs. It's tricky and I think those programs don't do a very good job of helping people make the distinctions the prayer talks about. Anyway, this prayer could be my life theme, although I would presume to change a few words and phrases. I think many times we get so worked up that only the Spirit can let us know which things we really have control over and which things we really don't. I wish I'd begun working on this concept earlier in life.