Letting . . . go . . .

"I wish you the ability to let go, the ability to allow yourself to allow life to do it's thing without you attempting to control the outcomes of everything that goes on around you.  I hope that you will always be able to recognize the situations over which you truly have no control, and try to let them be, accepting the outcomes as they are, and not judging them based on what you wanted them to be." - Unknown Author

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 would make 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 Nieburh.

It is easier to go with the flow of life than to resist it like salmon swimming upstream.  But this can be really difficult, especially when life is throwing you curve balls and you do not know how to handle them.  It is not so bad when you are dealing with one test.  But sometimes you have not caught your breath from one test and here comes another one right after it.  And sometimes another and another until you are so off balance because you are waiting for the other shoe to drop.  It can feel like you are walking through a mine field, hesitant to take another step for fear of setting off another mine.

The more we resist, the more misery we bring on ourselves.  I am learning to accept life on life's terms, not mine.  When I do that, I am happier and less stressed. I am learning to reach the point of acceptance in all circumstances and situations as quickly as possible.  I am grateful that I haven't had to deal with a major test in a while.  Or maybe I have but I am viewing them differently so they don't feel as major.  It's hard to tell.  

I am not saying that I am perfect at this but I am getting better.  And in my prayers, I ask God for strength to endure anything that comes my way.  I think The Serenity Prayer says it all.