SERENITY PRAYER

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.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
taking 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 andsupremely happy with you forever in the next

by: Reinhold Niebuhr

DESIDERATA

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.  

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

-Max Ehrmann, 1927

THE LORD'S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
And the power,
And the glory,
For ever and ever. 

Amen.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting;
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating;
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on".  

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings- nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

by Rudyard Kipling

Life shouldn't be measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that our breath away.

Try not, there is no try, do or do not. -Yoda

Even perfect people buy pencils with erasers on them.

Change your will to suit the day rather than the day to suit your will, and you will have a tranquil course of life.  -Epictetus (father of stoicism)

May your life be as straight as the arrow. -Native American saying

A body grows old by merely living number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals...you are as young as your self confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair. In the central place of every heart, there is a recording chamber; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage, so long are you young. When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then and only then, are you grown old.

—General Douglas MacArthur

The steepest mountains may be surmounted only by the winding paths. -Anon.

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.

Dance like no ones watching;

Sing like no ones listening;

Live each day like it was your last.

Irish Proverb

SUCCESS   

He has achieved success who has lived well,
laughed often, and loved much.

Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women,
the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children.

Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task.
Who has left the world better than he found it
Whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem or a rescued soul.

Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it.

Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;

Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.

1904 by Bessie Anderson Stanley

I ASKED

I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to solve.

I asked for prosperity and God gave me brawn and brain to work.

I asked for courage and God gave me dangers to overcome.

I asked for patience God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait.

I asked for love and God gave me troubled people to help.

I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted.

I received everything I needed.

MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.

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