Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) wrote what we now call The Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
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;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Niebuhr’s wisdom is profound, and I do not wish to detract from that by offering a slightly different version of what he wrote:
The Other Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
to stop beating myself up for not being perfect,
the courage to forgive myself because you already have
and because I’m working at doing better,
and the wisdom to know you already love me, mistakes and all.
Replace your anger & confusion with peace and happiness.
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