"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."- Reinhold Niebuhr

The quote above is one of the most powerful statements I've come across in my lifetime. The first time I came across it was when I was in High School reading the book Slaughterhouse-Five for AP English. I remember just stopping in my tracks and thinking about it over and over. I think the reason I spent so much time dwelling on it was because I realized how important it's message could be to my life and overall happiness.

The quote leads you to differentiate happenings in your life into two separate categories, things you can change and things you cannot. If it was that simple we would have all the answers all the time. Sadly it's not always so easy to tell the difference. However, the beauty of this gem of advice is it pushed you to have the faith in yourself to realize the difference, even if sometimes the only way to know is to take action.

Leaving conflicts unattended on your mind can make you a very restless, unhappy person, which is why it is important to take this advice and leave no problem in purgatory, accept it or change it. What good does it do anyone to dwell or worry, or think in circles? None. If something is really out of your control, be honest with yourself, understand you may need to take the lose, move on before it does you anymore damage. Learn to accept that things may not always go as you would like and the best thing you can do is cut your loses. However, that is not to say that you should give up on everything at the first sign of trouble. If you can change or better something in your life, and the only thing that is holding you back is the fear of not knowing the outcome, push the fear aside and take the chance to make yourself happy.

Trust me, I know it's all easier said than done. I wish I could practice this quote as strongly as I believe in it, but I have faith that it'll all come with time.