Serenity, Courage, Wisdom and ACT

Disclaimer: The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Do not rely on this material to make personal, legal, or any other decisions.

First, I want to preface this article with the statement that everyone is welcome and safe here; we all have our own beliefs and faith, and all are safe and welcome here.

Now, I was inspired to write this as I was reading the book "ACT Made Simple: An Easy-To-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy" by Russ Harris. Harris (2019) outlines that our struggle with our emotions and feelings - such as attempting to control them or will them away or escape from them - is actually what actually further exacerbates our struggle, rather than providing a solution.

Harris (2019) suggests that focusing on what is in our control is how we can empower ourselves, and therefore the main goals of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) are to teach skills to:

Tell the difference between what is and isn't in our control

Stop trying to control what is out of our control

Do what is useful that is in our control

When I read this it sounded so familiar to me - and then it hit me, The Serenity Prayer. I have the words Serenity, Courage, and Wisdom tattooed on my side - I got this tattoo in my early 20s as a reminder to do what is in my control, to accept what isn't, and to acknowledge the difference. The Serenity Prayer is said to be authored by Reinhold Neibuhr and is now commonly used in Alcoholics Anonymous (Service Material from the General Service Office, 2009).

The Serenity Prayer, as it is commonly written today and by AA:

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.

What is in our control and what isn't? Harris (2009) includes some examples.

Outside our control:

- Majority of emotions and feelings

- Majority of thoughts and sensations

- Memories

- What other people say/do

- What other people think of me

- What happened in the past

- What will happen in the future

- Difficult life events (e.g., work issues, illness, injury, natural disasters)

Within our control (potentially):

- How I respond to my emotions and feelings

- How I respond to my thoughts and sensations

- How I respond to my memories

- What I say/do to influence other people

- Whether or not I act like the type of person I want to be

- How I respond to thoughts about the past

- What I say/do to influence the future

- The values I live by and what I do in difficult situations, and my amount

of self-compassion

Can you see the similarities? As humans, it is apparent that we seek to:

Accept the things that we cannot change

Change the things we can

Recognize the difference between the two.

Here at Engie Martin Health & Wellness, we agree with Harris' (2009) assertion that struggle is the problem, not the solution, and we are here to help you build behavioural skills so that you can approach life with serenity, courage, and wisdom.

References:

Harris, R. (2019). ACT made simple: An easy-to-read primer on acceptance and commitment therapy. New Harbinger Publications.

Service Material from the General Service Office. (2009, July 30). Origin of the Serenity Prayer: A Historical Summary. Alcoholics Anonymous. https://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/smf-129_en.pdf.