When you have no control over the situation

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship 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

Reinhold Niebuhr (1926)

Until today, I didn't know there was more to this poem beyond the first six lines. In fact, until today, I thought it was an actual Bible verse.

I looked it up this morning because I wasn't remembering the exact verbiage, and the poem had been on my mind and in my heart -- guiding me through my days these past few weeks. 

Since retiring in 2021, if there isn't something already on my calendar that I know will bring me joy, I immediate add something that will. 

Every day. 

It's very intentional, on my part. 

Intentional joy. 

But things have been a little out of whack these past few weeks (okay, a lot out of whack), and things most certainly didn't go as planned. Not a lot of joy.

So, I had a choice: I could wallow in the worry, or I could make the best of a bad situation.

I chose the latter, but not before coming to my wits end. 

I recognize that we're not all wired the same; that some of us just can't think beyond how bad things are, or fathom the thought of coming up with a way to make things better. It's truly not in everyone's DNA. My heart aches for those who have trouble removing the negativity from their thoughts.

I live in gratitude.

Without going into detail, and with hope that this doesn't sound like I'm making this situation about me, my family walked through some serious "stuff" this week, and at one point I totally lost "it" and showed my anger; yelling. After a while and getting nowhere fast, I realized I needed to walk away and take some time to regain my composure. Yes, it took quite a while -- like hours!

But during that time, I realized I had been focusing only on those things for which I had no control; things over which I wanted authority; things for which someone else had to make the decisions - not me.

For a person like me -- a take-charge person -- that was most difficult.

When I realized that no matter what this person means to me, no matter how much I was sure that I was right, and no matter how much this person could benefit from my "suggestions" -- it was this person's journey to travel and I could only play a supporting role. 

And so, after hours of anger, pity, and even throwing blame, I was suddenly reminded of the Serenity Prayer and, instead, turned my headspace into an open field of gratefulness. 

Once I did that, I felt a sense of complete-ness.

We all veer off course once in a while, including me. But now, I'm back to focusing on my daily doses of intentional joy, which makes me happy, which then spreads to those around me. There's no better way to show someone support that to "be there" for them, reminding them of how much you love them, how much joy they bring to your life, and, frankly, showing how much joy you bring into their life.

You certainly will catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar. Right?

Happy 51st anniversary to my one and only!!