A simple prayer

"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 will make all 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."

Now, we all know the first part, but what about the rest of the prayer? And why don't we say it more often? It's full of good stuff. "Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time." One day, one moment at a time, and really living them, really enjoying every moment and not trying to think of the next one or the next. No strategy, no next steps, but living, truly living the moment. Sure, you need to take time to plan a little, I mean, God's not going to tell you what to wear to work tomorrow, but you know your HP will take care of the big stuff. Just live in that moment and enjoy it for what it is.

Which leads us to taking this "world as it is, not as I would have it." Life isn't here to make us happy. The purpose of life isn't to be happy. Happiness is fleeting. But when you take things as they are and as God or HP is presenting them to you, you can expect to be reasonably happy here on earth. And isn't that all we really need? To be better than miserable? And remember, misery is optional.

So try and say the full prayer sometimes. Remind yourself that it's about living one day at a time, the best you can, and not expecting things to be perfect. Remember, it's all progress, not perfection.