When life hands me lemons and I just cannot make lemonade on my own, I turn to the infamous 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.
But there was always something in the first line of the prayer that didn’t feel quite right. Maybe it was the acceptance piece, since I have a hard time with that. However, I recently read something about allowing things to be just as they are with no judgment. And to me that felt lighter and more powerful.
Imagine just allowing everything to be just as it is with no struggle to try to change it. What would that do for you? Can you feel the difference between accepting versus allowing? Accepting to me feels almost like defeat. Whereas, when I think of allowing something or someone to be just as it is or just as they are, I feel a sense of peace I never felt when I talked myself into “accepting” it.
There’s a quote by Abraham that says, “Trust and Allowing are the same thing.”
So accepting things just as they are feels like nothing will ever change. But allowing things to be just as they are, there’s a sense of trust that things will change. And to me, there’s power in trusting.
When I’m in a state of allowing, I feel an inner strength to create changes within me without having to try to change a person or a situation. Because we all know how trying to change another person is like banging your head against a brick wall.
Now I know this prayer has been circulating since the 1930’s, at least in written form, but maybe we can adjust it slightly:
God, grant me the serenity to allow exactly what is happening in my life with no judgement,
To trust that it is all happening for my highest good,
The courage to do my part and change what I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Can you feel the difference? If not, it doesn’t matter. Use whatever works for you. Because in the end, it’s the things that work in your life that bring you peace, joy and love that matter. Not what works for anyone else.
With Love and Light,
Lisa
Positive Quote of the Day: “Allow things to come and go; keeping your heart as open as the sky.”
-Lao Tzu