Open the newspaper, or flip open your laptop in the morning and you are likely greeted by an onslaught of headlines that go something like this:

“Will Gas reach $4.00/gallon this summer?” 

“13 reasons the economy will never recover”

“Unemployment claims reach record levels”

It’s hard to escape the panic-mongering that is so prevalent in the media today.  It’s almost as if those writing the stories want you quivering in fear by the end of the article.  There is a new religion for the new millennium:  The Religion of Alarmism.  Alarmism sells papers, magazines and papers.  It can be titillating.  But, at the bottom line, it is destructive, both to mind and spirit.  I find myself rarely reading anything further than the title of these stories, because I have learned a very valuable truth in my life, from two very different sources.

The first is from The Bible:  “And who of you, by being worried, can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt 6:27, NASB).

Being someone who does not like to take things completely out of context, I will give a quick background on this statement.  This was during the famous Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus is preaching about the importance of seeking after things which are truly important (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?).  He explains that the lilies of the field and the birds of the air don’t worry themselves with what they will eat or what clothes they will wear, because God ultimately takes care of them.  He continues saying that we (humans) are far more valuable than the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, so certainly God will take care of our needs.  Then he says the words above.

The answer to the question he poses is obviously “No one”.  In fact, I would put forth that worry actually has a tendency to steal hours from our lives.  It could come in the form of actually causing health problems that could literally shorten our lives, or it can come in the form of the wasted hours during our times of worry.  It doesn’t take much reflection to realize what a detrimental thing worry can be.

But recognizing the horrible effects of worry, and ceasing to worry are two entirely different things.  I think that we can all academically agree that worrying accomplishes nothing good.  It can certainly keep us awake at night, make us sick to our stomachs, and a whole host of other physical maladies.  But, in terms of accomplishing anything worthwhile, the act of worrying is entirely devoid of anything redeeming.

Which brings me to the second truth:  some people call it The Serenity Prayer, and it is used by 12-Step Programs the world over.

“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.”

While profound, this version doesn’t tell the entire story.  This prayer was actually delivered in a sermon by German Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and the original version is as follows:

“God give us grace, to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, the courage to change the things that 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 hardships as a pathway to peace; taking, as He did, the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trust that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonable happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.  Amen.”

Striking isn’t it?  Look at all the great stuff that we can glean from this.  Here are my six favorites:

“…to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed…”  This should really set someone free.  As we live in this world, we need to come to terms with the idea that there are simply things that are outside of our sphere of influence.  The weather, the stock market, the government (even though they are supposed to be representing us…come on, let’s be realistic).  All of these things are completely beyond our control.  But it goes deeper…in this segment of the prayer, we are asking for the serenity to accept things THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED.  And there is one thing that I can think of, that is completely unchangeable, that holds so many people prisoner:  the past.  Did you do something that got you fired?  Could you have done things differently?  Probably.  Can you change it now?  No.  It will always be in your past.

“…the courage to change the things that should be changed…”  Lest you think I would end this article on a sour note, let’s talk about more positive things.  After we accept things that we cannot change, we then have to seek out the things in our lives that SHOULD be changed, and then attack those things with courage and conviction.  Let’s go back to the previous example of getting fired.  True, you cannot change the fact that you were fired.  But, is there something you can do to restore your relationship with the boss who fired you?  If there is, find a way to make things right.  If not, it’s time to start looking for another job.  Both of these are examples of things that could be done with courage to change something that SHOULD be changed.

“…the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.”  This is critical.  We must get in the practice of understanding the difference between the things that are in our control and those that are not.  The realization that something simply cannot be changed should be completely liberating.  The realization that something CAN be changed should be entirely motivating. 

“…living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time…”  I think this is an overused cliché, but it bears repeating.  Worrying about something three days in the future does nothing but steal your joy in the here and now.  There are things to be enjoyed NOW.  Don’t let worry steal that enjoyment from you!  And just to make a distinction, I DO believe in planning.  Planning falls under things that you CAN change.  But if you have done all the planning, and you are simply worrying about something in the future, that falls in the category of things that you CANNOT change.

“…accepting hardships as a pathway to peace…”  This is a bit of a “tough-y”.  I could probably write a five article series on this alone.  But for now, suffice it to say that if you looked back over your life, and identified the times in your life that truly defined you as a person, most likely, a great number of those times involved hardships.  In hindsight, our struggles, and our perseverance through those struggles, make us who we are today.  If we can identify hardships as opportunities to grow, perhaps we can go through them with a better attitude.  Enough said, for now.

“…taking, as He did, the sinful world as it is, not as I would have it…”  Finally, this world is certainly full of disappointments.  It’s full of disappointing situations.  It’s full of disappointing people.  But, we must take it for what it is: the world in which we live.  We cannot re-make the world the way that we want it.  And it’s a good thing, because the way I would want it might be completely different from what you would want, or what Christopher would want.  At the end of the day, the world is what it is.  But, we have been given a life, and relationships, and a limited number of things that we can change.  So, we need to quit worrying about the rest of the world and get to work on the things that we CAN make better.

 It’s a lot to digest isn’t it?  And it’s one thing to talk the talk, but it another to walk the walk.  This is a discipline, not an intellectual exercise.  And the core of discipline is practice.

Whenever you feel yourself beginning to worry, ask yourself:  “Is this something I can change?”  If it is, then decide what to do to change it for the better.  If it is NOT, then do your best to stop worrying about it, and try to focus on something you can change.

And finally, because I think everyone should practice what they preach, I recently went on a mission trip with my wife to the Darien Jungle of Panama.  It also happened to be the last week of the quarter, and anyone who is in sales knows that is one of the most stressful times.  All orders have to be in, in order for them to be counted for commission.  In planning for this trip, I knew that I must do whatever I could to get as much business finished before I left for the trip, but beyond that, there was nothing I could do to do business once I left for Panama.  I prepared myself mentally and emotionally for being completely powerless during that week to change the course of events at the end of the quarter.  And, while tempted, I did not allow myself to think about work for the entire week.  It was difficult the first few days, but it became much easier as the week went on, as I focused on the tasks at hand (things I COULD CHANGE).

Just think how productive this world could be if we could all lay worry aside and focus on changing things in our power for the better.

God grant us serenity, courage and wisdom…