Resolutions!

A friend casually asked me about my New Year resolutions, if any. It hit me like a ton of bricks - I'd just become another miserable statistic, one of those clueless, "tidak-apathy" oriented Malaysian types who hadn't sorted out their hopes and plans for the year. And one who would probably end up running around like a headless chicken due to a lack of foresight and proper planning for the next 12 months. But then curiously, in the next few seconds, I found my mouth uttering these words almost automatically "...well, just three I suppose. One - to stay healthy; Second - to be happy; Third - to make some extra money." Nothing explosive, dramatic. Heck, it sounded very dull and boring, even to me!

But my friend surprised me saying, "That's good!". That got me thinking. Three simple targets. Even the Malaysian football team could hit that! So, that was that until a couple of days later, when out of the blue, this old prayer popped out of somewhere in space into my head:

The Serenity Prayer

Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

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 all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

p.s. I should call up my friend to thank her for her question I think!