Change...

"GOD, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference." -- Author Unknown

This saying is so true. We do need to accept the things we cannot change. So often we want to fix things that are just not able to be fixed. Perhaps it is not our place to fix them. A good example is with our children. When they are going down a path we feel is the wrong one for them to travel we instantly want to rush in and put them on the right course. But if that child doesn't want to go down the path we've chosen for them there is nothing we can do to alter that. We can try to persuade them but in the end it is their choice to make once they are grown.

I also find that I must accept the things I cannot change regarding my life. That is not easy because I want to somehow find a way to just make all the bad parts go away. Trying to change something that cannot be changed is very frustrating and stressful. By the same token we should hope for the strength and courage to take action and change the areas of our lives that we can make better. We can learn to take charge of things in our lives that we can use to become a better person. This also is not always easy because sometimes doing nothing in a tough situation seems like the safest road to go but it isn't always the wisest. Standing up and taking action takes courage and guts. It isn't always easy to face up to things in our life which we'd prefer to ignore.

Knowing the difference between those things we can change and those we cannot is not an easy task. I know that I get them confused constantly. Often times I don't know it is something I cannot change until I've tried over and over to change it. I guess it ends up being an admission to defeat and then I realize that it wasn't my situation to alter. I have to leave it to work out on its own. I have no idea how to explain a way to know the difference. I guess over the years through much trial and error we begin to sort situations out and recognize those things we just have to accept as is...