Serenity

Baptistcare’s mission statement says: Reaching out with the love of Jesus we work with individuals, families and communities to achieve their spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Some more thoughts about emotional well being:

I can still clearly remember a time when I was having difficulties in relation to my work environment. As time went on I found myself getting frustrated and angry about a number of things, including the attitude of my boss and fellow workers. After some time, I had a conversation with myself about the situation and came to a decision that if I continued in the way I was going the situation would become unmanageable and I would probably end up resigning in disgust.

As I discussed the situation with myself, we (that’s myself and me) agreed that I needed to accept that there would always be situations that I couldn’t control and people who would have behaviours and attitudes that I couldn’t control. I needed to accept the situation and set about making the best of the situation and change what I could for the better.

That decision represented a significant watershed for me as I took a fresh approach to my work and the environment in which I worked.

I don’t think I processed this thought at the time but American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr had the same thought in the early 20th century when he wrote his Serenity 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.