I was cleaning out my purse the other day (always an adventure) and I ran across a quote I had written down a few months ago:  “Obsession is all out war on powerlessness!”

It’s helpful to remember that, in this instance, obession means a thought or idea that blocks out all other thoughts or ideas. This was illustrated beautifully to me by a very wise woman who pointed to a magazine on a coffee table and said that in its proper place, it was just part of the scenery. Then she had me pick it up and hold it at arms length, and asked me how much of the room and table I could still see…. I could see part of the room, and part of the table, around the edges of the magazine. Then she had me hold it right up to my face and asked “now how much of the room can you see?” Um…. that would be NONE thank you! Point taken!!

When I focus all of my energy and attention on one thing, I lose sight of the rest of my life and the other people in it. Loved ones become invisible, work doesn’t get done, sleep is elusive at best… all while I try to figure out how to MAKE IT WORK THANK YOU VERY MUCH…

So the trick is, not necessarily to REMOVE the problem (because often that can’t be done), but to put it back in perspective (ie set it back down on the coffee table) so that it is just part of the scenery again.

Sounds like a good place for the Serenity Prayer doesn’t it? God grand me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference 🙂