I love the Serenity Prayer.  It is such wise counsel for life.  Many heartaches and frustrations we experience in life are a result of our attempts to control those things over which we have no control; while neglecting or avoiding those problems we can control and need to solve. The first three lines has become a mantra for Alcoholics Annonymous, but I believe it has application for us all. 

The poem is actually longer, attributed to a sermon by Reinhold Niebuhr in 1943: 

God, give us grace to accept with Serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen 

As I said my morning prayers today, I found myself - quite inadvertently - using the three key words of this oft-quoted poem in a slightly different manner. What I want today is to know God's will for me and do it. I asked to have the Wisdom to recognize it; the Courage to do it; and, once having done it, the Serenity to let everything else go. I have added four new words that are key to me - Strength, Love, Peace, and Grace. The thoughts expressed in my prayer have been a guide to me for many years.  I decided this morning to write them in poetic form, healing mind, body, and spirit:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I approach Thee in gratitude for the bounty of Thy gifts.
I want only to do Thy will for me this day.
Grant me the Wisdom to recognize and truly understand Thy will.
Once recognized, give me Courage and Strength to do Thy will.
Help me to Love others as You have loved me.
And through that love, lead me to Peace and Serenity,
As I let go of the chaff and allow You, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, to blow it all away by His Grace.

In Jesus' precious name,
Amen.