If you’re curious about the key to happiness, just ask any member of AA.

It’s a phrase you’ve undoubtedly heard many times.   The serenity prayer.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the thing I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Think about the last time you became irked.  A jerk co-worker.  Heavy traffic.  Political posts on Facebook.

There’s nothing you can do to change any of these circumstances.  Why fight those battles?  What we need to do is focus on what we can control.

The next time you’re in a race, acknowledge the conditions and the competition.  Just remember you can’t do anything about them.  What you can do is adjust your effort, strategy, and mental state.

The source of the serenity prayer comes from a philosopher who lived over 2,000 years ago, Epictetus.  He was one of the most popular of the Stoic philosophers.

The human race has accumulated an incredible sum of knowledge in the last two millennia.  It’s kid of funny how much we can learn from people who lived without any of it.