Faith to sit, faith to act

There is an old saying that is a favorite of mine, it is commonly known as the serenity prayer. 

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

Let's take a look at what this means to you, and how the three words in italics are the words to empower you to true fulfillment as you lead your life, and others.

Serenity is peace.  To be completely serene you know that what is or has occurred is not something you can change, and therefore, you have made peace with it.  Imagine sitting in a beautiful park in the upper midwest, on a crisp autumn day.  You are alone on a wooden bench under a shade tree, and your view is marvelous.  You are overlooking a lake, with birds flying against a perfect blue sky.  The backdrop is colorful, from red to orange to yellow, you see the splendor of fall.  As you sit in the quiet of the moment, a sudden rain storm swells up.  The clouds roll in, the wind howls, the rain pours, your perfect moment is ruined, right, well, wrong.  At least wrong attitude.  See, without the rain, the beauty you were viewing would not exist.  You cannot stop the rain, or control the wind, so being upset only changes you, not the circumstance.  Be still, be serene, accept the moment you cannot change.

The cowardly lion wanted courage.  He wanted to stand up and fight and not be afraid.  He knew that to get anywhere of value, he was going to have to do the work, he was going to need to fight, and so must you.  Each day you are faced with challenges and opportunities to lead, to grow, to build upon the vision and make an impact for others.  Will you have the courage to make that difference.  If you do, great things will happen.  If you don't, they won't.  There are many things in your life you can change, like your attitude.  Do you smile and greet people with enthusiasm?  Do you choose to accept the rain storm with peace?  Do you look at challenges as an opportunity to make a difference?  Let's go back to the lion, if you remember, he stands up for Dorothy, he decides to take action and go along for the journey to Oz.  In actuality, as the story shows, his ability to act is courage.  Always expecting the results you want is lacking wisdom.

And that brings us to the all important wisdom, knowledge that is beyond ourselves.  Wisdom is more than just intelligence, more than reading books or knowing the right thing to do.  Wisdom is understanding, it is seeing a bigger picture.  Wisdom in the best form is recognition that something is worth the fight, it is something you will try, and something that make a noble impact to others.  If you meet the goal or not is irrelevant to the fight.  Have the courage to go for it when you need to, to sit when you must, and the faith so that you can be shown the difference between the two.