Serenity and Contentment

It's a beautiful Saturday! The sky may be overcast and the day may be a bit damp with drizzles here and there, but for me, it might just as well be drenched in sunshine, with cheerful bird-song and warm soothing breezes all around.

I am in quite a buoyant mood -- and it's not even lunch time yet!

No, the daily cares did not suddenly vanish magically, nor did a fairy godmother unexpectedly appear to wave all our worries away.  It was the realization that these things would not be solved by the extent to which I frowned and ranted and moped all day. 

Solutions will be found, and new joys and sorrows will surely come, but I could in fact choose to live in the moment and be happy. 

Happiness is a choice.  It is a state of mind.

Early this morning I had a walk with my two daughters, just meandering around the residential area we live in, peering at a neighbor's pet dog (my younger one likes to 'visit' the dog and say Hi), marveling at the butterflies that darted amidst the flowers, watching a caterpillar make its way slowly across the ground.

We then swept the fallen leaves from the driveway and gathered them into a pile, after which the two little girls jumped around and over and on it to their hearts' delight. 

Then came a round of deciphering secret codes -- our older daughter is currently in an "I-want-to-be-a-secret-agent-someday" mode.  She went and got a book about secet codes from their school book fair, and she lassoed me into hunkering down and solving the codes with her.  It was surprisingly interesting -- it's my inner geek peering out again!

Simple pleasures, simple joys.

When I accidentally erased the draft of this post and had to do it over, I had a brief flash of irritation.  But only for a moment.  Then I went ahead and rewrote it -- I have to say that I find this version better.

I find that the Serenity Prayer sums up my feelings quite well.  This oft-quoted prayer, commonly believed to have been written by the American theologian Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr, has been widely adopted by twelve-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.  Its appeal stems perhaps because of its plea for help while acknowledging one's all-too-human limitations.

There are a number of versions of this prayer, and it os commonly only the first part that is widely cited, but I like this one best:

God, grant us the

Serenity to accept the things we cannot change,

Courage to change the things we can, and the

Wisdom to know the difference.

Patience for the things that take time,

Appreciation for all that we have, and

Tolerance for those with different struggles.

Freedom to live beyond the limitations of our past ways, the

Ability to feel your love for us and our love for each other and the

Strength to get up and try again even when we feel it is hopeless.

Happiness is a choice.  It may not be easy to come by, but with some Wisdom from Above, it's well within our grasp.