Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCXXXV

I've had to face up to a few facts. I remember a few years ago I saw a little prayer that a friend had in a picture frame hanging on her wall that said, "Lord, grant me the serenity to change the things I can, to accept the things I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference." I thought it was a nice prayer for a picture frame, but recently I've been reminded about it as I've had to apply it to my own life. If you will notice, it's a three-part prayer, so I will describe each section and discuss how it applies to me. Part 1: "Grant me the serenity to change the things I can." Things are going to change. Even if I sit here and do nothing, my body will get soft and flabby, my endurance level will evaporate, and my self discipline and work ethic will go out the window. It just doesn't have to be that way, because there's something I can do about it...I can affect that change. It is within my power to change that situation for the better, and with God's help, I'm going to do it. That's why it's important for me to pray that first part. Part 2: "To accept the things I cannot." In the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to help a couple of individuals that I want to tell you about. In a prior article, I've already mentioned one of them. When my son was stripping out the old flooring from his house in preparation for a new floor, I was there to help. It was hard work, and we had to take quite a few rest breaks. The only trouble was, my breaks were more frequent and longer lasting than his, mainly because he's twenty-eight years younger than I am. The second one is a friend who is fifteen years older than me, and he needed a hand in moving some things around in his office, and I was glad to oblige. This time it was him who was having to stop more often to rest. It made me realize that I'll never again have as much stamina as my thirty-three year old son now possesses, and chances are, I have as much now as I'll ever have. It's a fact of life that I have to accept. Part 3: "The wisdom to know the difference." If I have the ability to view my life as it really is, to know where to place my efforts, and the areas where I would be spinning my wheels, I'll be a happier person. Just the knowledge that I'm putting as much into life as I possibly can, and giving it all I've got, will make me feel better about myself and keep my attitude more positive; and that good attitude will make all the difference in the world. The man I quote the most, T.F. Tenney, once made the statement that "getting old is not for wimps." The older I get, the more I realize just how much wisdom can be found in that short phrase. Accepting the fact that we're aging can be one of the most depressing hurdles we'll have to overcome, but a failure to accept it can make life even more difficult. Now if you're thinking that I'm suggesting that we should just roll over and die, please refer back to "Part 1." If there's something I can do to improve my situation, you can rest assured that I'm gonna be doing all I can to make it happen. However, if it's completely out of my control, I refuse to waste my precious energy trying to change it. I'm enough of a realist to understand that this battle against old age is one I will eventually lose, but I firmly believe that it is within my power to push that inevitable occurrence further into the future. That's where I'm putting my efforts. Lord, give me the wisdom to make it happen. Amen. Preston