I’ve never met a competitor who did not love taking charge of a situation when something needed to change.
You know how you are. You embrace philosophies like,
“Don’t wait for opportunity to knock, go make something happen.”
“You don’t have to get it perfect, just get it going.”
“Quitters never win and winners never quit.”
And then you face the inevitable: Something beyond your control. How do you handle those things you can’t change?
Maybe the conflict is at work or at home.
Personally, as I write this, I’m sitting in a house that we’ve had listed for sale for the past 6 months. I never dreamed it would take so long to sell an updated house in a beautiful neighborhood.
If you’ve tried to move from a slow market to one that’s smoking hot, you may feel my pain. At any rate, it’s an exercise in dealing with issues beyond your control.
So this week it occurred to me that sometimes true power is being okay with those moments that leave you feeling powerless.
My friend reminded me that the word for this is “serenity.”
Serenity? It sounds so passive!
And yet, serenity is the power to be okay with those things you can’t control. The more I meditated on this idea, the more my cortisol came under control. My faith kicked in to remind me that I’m not moved just by what I see. I trust the bigger picture and the One who holds my future.
As I picked up my 14 year old boys from the high school, I shared with them my serenity epiphany.
“I was nearly enraged when this re-showing cancelled,” I said, “but I learned that serenity is power!”
“Oooooh yes!” replied my young philosophers. In unison they said,
“That’s what Professor X said to Magneto before he sold out to the dark side and became the villain.”
I had no idea what they were talking about. Somebody had beat me to their tender impressionable minds?
“Yes, Mom, in the X-Men. Professor Xavier told Magneto that true focus was somewhere between rage and serenity. It’s the same thing you’re saying.”
Well, there you go.
Before you sell out to the dark side in moments beyond your control, let’s take this to heart.
Focus on things you can control.
Release the rage over things you can’t.
Suddenly the Serenity Prayer has new meaning.
The Serenity Prayer by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
If you want to see the clip from X-men It’s right below. Check it out and leave a comment if you’d like. What’s easier for you – anger or serenity?
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