Things Don't Always Stay the Same

I can hear my mother saying this to me as if she were still alive. That's just how powerful these words are, at least to me. They can be powerful for you as well if you truly focus on what it is these words are saying to you.

A couple of days ago, I was speaking to a classroom of students discussing my F.O.C.U.S. principles and I, somehow, go on this subject. Many of us have probably, at one time or another, gone through something terrible in our lives. Heaven knows, I have. So I shared with the class a few personal "things" that occurred in my life that were not so positive. I won't share them in this forum, but my point to them was that those "things" are now gone.

Sure, there will be some residual effects of what has happened but the situation has changed. Furthermore, it is in the past. Remember a few months ago we had gas prices at $4.00/gallon (and higher in some places) and people were losing their minds almost.

Fast forward - are they still the same?

What we must realize is that even those things we have no control over don't always stay the same. So why do we panic when "things" happen? Because we do not trust that they won't stay the same; or maybe it is that we, deep down inside, want something to complain about or to have self-pity. Guess what? That won't change nothing.

Sometimes we will just have to ride it out or if it is within our control - create the change you desire. Many times "things" will take care of themselves. From my experience, I have found this to be the case. Eventually all that "stuff" will be behind you.

How many of you have quoted the 'Serenity Prayer'? You might even have it up on your mantel, wall or in your office. Well, you probably only have part of it - the most familiar part that goes like this:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

As the commercial says, "but wait, there's more":

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.
Amen.

Remember, it is a prayer. So the next time you experience "things" not going so well that "they don't always stay the same" and that the Serenity Prayer tells (and shows) us why.