Along the journey towards the greater, there are many small, daily steps to better understand oneself, God, and others. This is one of my “daily steps”.
“Serenity now!”
This phrase from an old #Seinfeld episode spoken by #GeorgeCostanza came into my mind this morning as I examined my previous evening.
In the span of about 5 minutes last night as I was preparing to enjoy a Christmas concert, I went from calm to “serenity now.” I got an email from the site I ordered my Christmas cards from that said “We are sorry you didn’t like your order, we have refunded $12 to your account.” I read this and my mind spiraled “Huh? Is this spam? Well no, I can see the $12 so… Ok not spam but I paid more than $12 so where’s my $$. I guess I’ve lost it forever. And now I have to remake my cards? And will they even come in time for Christmas? What happened, I totally did the order correct. I must get into their chat queue right away… 45 people? Oh man this is taking forever and my phone keeps going to sleep…”⠀
Seriously maybe 5 minutes total and the email came – “Your cards have shipped.” What the?
So I think I’m getting cards soon, but that’s not the point. Going through an #IgnatianExamen of my evening reminded me of these 5 fleeting moments of internal chaos that were… well totally unnecessary. However, in this holiday season, maybe those moments of needing serenity are more common than I think.
For George Costanza, screaming serenity now was a step towards the internal #peace he needed. For me, during this second week of #advent focused on #peace, I think I’ll reach out to a #prayer that is perfect for just that written by #reinholdniebuhr:
“God grant me the serenity⠀
to accept the things I cannot change; ⠀
courage to change the things I can; ⠀
and wisdom to know the difference.⠀
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.”
What #peace are you seeking this #advent season?
[By the way, #GeorgeCostanza is listed as an enneagram 6 – so am I. I don’t know what to think about that.]
