Serenity Now!
Practicing Patience With Ourselves
Reflection By Robbin Brent
“The greatest illusion,” said the mole, “is that life should be perfect.”
- Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse
It is very difficult to be compelled by a desire to make things perfect and to be patient with ourselves at the same time. The saying “Serenity Now!”—made famous by Frank Costanza, George’s dad on Seinfeld—has been a mantra I have often used when I find myself scanning for incompletions, or things I haven’t done well—aka perfectly. You don’t have to be familiar with the saying to relate to the idea that perfectionism can be a huge hurdle to a feeling of serenity. Along the way I have discovered that when I can relax my need to do everything perfectly in order to be respected and loved, I find that there is a holy perfection in everything, just as it is.
So how can we let go of perfectionism in order to be more available to all that God desires to offer through us? What could help us to be more patient with ourselves and others with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our strength, and with all of our mind?
When we can let go of unrealistic expectations and extend kindness and patience toward ourselves when we make mistakes, we are freer to experience the gift of perfection in all of God’s creation, right here, right now.
Making It Personal: Can you see the relationship between striving for things to be perfect and a lack of patience or kindness toward yourself? What might you ask God to help you let go of in order to more freely enter God’s prayer for your life?
TO JOIN OUR PRIVATE FACEBOOK DISCUSSION GROUP FOR ADVENT, CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW:
Follow along with us this Advent season with our daily devotional and engage in discussion in our closed facebook group moderated by Robbin Brent, Carolyn Karl, Jan Kwiatowski, and Scott Stoner.
In this group, participants will have a chance to share their responses to the prompts in the daily readings, and also the chance to receive additional material for reflection.