There’s a phrase that has been running through my mind lately:

a gracious acceptance of the way things are

I’m not sure what sleep-deprived conditions summoned it forth from the cloudy brew of my mind, but I’ve been turning it over and over like a well-done burger.

Lately, I’ve been learning the peace of what it means to accept things as they are. In this I find contentment. 

I’ve also been realizing how often I fail to achieve that state of mind. Contentment is a fish not easily grasped.

On the flip-flop-side, there is a desire inside, a burnin’ churnin’ engine which drives me to work for change. It won’t let me be. 

I can’t let things stay as they are when there remains the possibility of improvement, whether in myself or the surrounding world.

All this reminds me of the ol’ Serenity Prayer I’ve seen hung up on display in many a house.

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.

I wonder if it really is as simple as all that or if there’s more to it. 

How do we know when our work is acceptable, whether we’ve done good enough or if we should have given more?

Experience, sure enough. But sometimes there’s just no way to know until you try and find out how it all turns out.

For now, I aim for steps firmly planted in front of me, with an honest and humble recognition of the way things are, but with open eyes, looking far enough ahead to seeing how they could be different.