We All Need Serenity Now

Serenity means letting go of fear and anger when things are out of control, like right now.

Serenity doesn’t mean we aren’t afraid or shouldn’t be angry about what’s happening. It doesn’t matter who you are, what color you are, what your political beliefs are, or where you live. You’re hurting. We’re more divided than ever before, and the chaos and pain in our country hurts us all.

What is the Serenity Prayer

God grant me the wisdom to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the courage to know the difference.

I pray for peace. I wish I could stop the hurt and fix us all. We can laugh about my saying that because classic people pleasers and codependents want to fix everything. And I can’t fix it. No matter who you are, you can’t fix it today either. There are ways out of injustice and pain and division, but it will take all of us working together.

Right now, it’s okay to feel hurt and angry. We should feel our feelings because when we repress and hold them back we get sicker. When we pretend that things are all right when they aren’t, we get sicker. When we don’t hear and acknowledge other people, we get sicker.

Right now we need calm and hope and serenity so we can help our friends, our neighbors and business owners and families get past this. Serenity is possible even in times like these. The things we can’t control shouldn’t control or define us. Just know this with all your heart. The only constant in life is change.

We will rise above this. This chaos and pain will ease. We can only hope and pray that our distress right now will bring about the change we all long for. But how can serenity help right now? Let’s define serenity.

The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.

Sounds impossible right? For people with anxiety, or in recovery, being untroubled at the best of times is a dream. For people who don’t know, both anxiety and recovery can feel paralyzing sometimes. Pair them together and you have a recipe for a fear-based life riddled with feeling restless, irritable and discontent. And even depression.

It is not weak to feel the feelings, but the strength we need now is to rise above. This is what the Serenity Prayer was designed to help us do. Some of us wake up every morning saying this prayer, and say it again before going to bed. In fact, some of us repeat it all day.