The Wisdom Years - Part 1 (episode 287-1)
It is true that a lot of us feel wiser as we age.
This is part of the message Cindee Williams had for us during our conversation. Lost confidence? You can regain it. Not sure of your purpose? You can find it. Afraid to pursue your dreams? You can overcome that fear. Cindee runs a faith-based program called “Lead My Life” to help women answer these questions and become bold enough to go for what they want, bold enough to step into all that God has for them.
Cindee is our guest this week for Spicy Christian Women - Becoming all that and a bag of chips. This is part one.
She can be found at leadmylife.com.
Bold. Authenticity. Friend.
— Cindee Williams
Serenity Now
Thoughts from The Wisdom Years
One of the ways that fear comes is through control. We try to control outcomes because it helps us feel safe and secure. It’s playing with the what-ifs and trying to save ourselves from worry. Guess what? It doesn’t work. Ever. Many things are simply out of our control and that can be hard to accept. Oh sure, you can manipulate a thing or two but if you hold on too tight you will lose out, and so will those who you think you are trying to protect.
So, what to do instead?
First, recognize you have limited control. Remember the prayer that became famous from AA? Here it is:
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.
Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make things right if I surrender to His Will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen
While some think St. Francis of Assisi originally wrote the basis for this prayer, later research revealed it is credited to Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr of the Union Theological Seminary in the 1940’s. His wording was slightly different but you get the gist. You can take a deeper dive than I have here.
The points? Surrendering to what is greater than we are. Acceptance of what-is not what-if. Changing what we can. In hardships we grow. And being thankful for it all.
In my morning reading today I came across this verse: Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I’ve committed it to memory (at least for today). It’s right there. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. They are not the same thing. More on that another time.
For now remember what George Constanza’s father, Frank said in episode 159 on Seinfeld, “Serenity Now!” (Okay, he screamed it multiple times using it as an anger management technique - haha.) But you can use it as a gentle reminder.
This image. This place.
— Sea of Galilee 2019
