The Serenity Prayer
I firmly believe everything in life is a matter of perspective. You cannot choose what happens to you, but it is up to you how you will let it affect your mindset and what actions or inactions you will take in response.
When I was a little girl, my family had the Serenity Pray hanging on their wall. From the time I was old enough to read, I knew it was significant. I would read it over and over, just gaze at it. I remember initially thinking it was meant to be humorous because it seemed so obvious to my naive little mind. I was already practicing that in a way. I knew, as a child, I didn’t really have much control of anything, and for the most part, I surrendered to that. But it made me recognize behavior I saw in over-stressed, hyper-anxious adults. Those adults seemed to act as if they could control everything and would subsequently get angry when events didn’t play out as expected or other people didn’t behave as they hoped.
With the ups and downs of life and as I got older and grew into a similarly anxious adult, I no longer thought about that serenity prayer hanging on the wall of my childhood home.
In 2006, at the height of an emotional crisis, after a brutal break-up, I was working full time, while going to grad school full time, all while attempting to maintain a full-time social life; my adrenals were maxed out. Something had to give. I wasn’t functioning well at anything and needed help. I had heard yoga is beneficial for reducing stress, so I dropped into a class at a studio down the street. I found yoga and started practicing with ferocity like my life depended on it. I treated yoga like it was a doctor’s appointment or a meeting with my boss, marked on my schedule multiple days a week. I would sometimes go to yoga twice a day. It was my refuge.
One day after a particularly vigorous and sweaty practice, I was lying in Savasana, and my teacher read aloud to the class… the Serenity Prayer! It was like hearing it both for the first time and the thousandth time. I felt my muscles release, my body melt into the mat, I felt grounded and connected to the earth. I finally understood what my teacher meant to actually let go of what is no longer serving me.
It might sound dramatic, but this moment honestly changed the trajectory of my life, and I am forever thankful. I am by no means perfect at embodying the message, but the Serenity Prayer is a daily practice.
