In 1993 Warner Brothers released the film, Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas as a man at war with life in general. Since the release of that film, which I suggest you see if you haven’t, life has imitated art so much so that you might as well say that the reruns have been syndicated. Columbine, 911, the DC sniper, and now the VA tech shootings indicate that everyone seems to be falling down.

The things that we are faced with in our lives are counter to how we began in our mother’s wombs. We go from a safe protective environment to chaos. Then we spend the rest of our lives trying to find that peace again. We have so little control over our external and sometimes even our internal lives, that we are frustrated, and angry. People deal with injustice, racism, economic hardship, abuse, low wages, war, global warming, just to name a few. We are uncertain most of the time, sometimes unaware of what to do, and worried about if we will make it through. We deal with physical, emotional, and psychological issues everyday.

The only thing we can do to counter “falling down” is to “lift up” our spirits. Life is not going to change, the issues you face today will probably be their tomorrow, and if not I’m sure they will be replaced with other issues, so with that in mind “relax.” Find the one thing or things that make you feel at peace or close enough to it. There are so many different things one can do to relax. Here are just a few in no particular order:

• Listen to music
• Meditate
• Practice yoga
• Play sports
• Go to the movies/plays/musicals
• Take dance classes
• Attend church
• Spend time with family
• Keep in touch with friends
• Take a cruise
• Go camping
• Go fishing
• Exercise
• Read a good book
• Just sit out in the yard on a nice sunny day and admire nature

Unfortunately life is full of many hardships. That does not mean that you have to accept them, but you must face the fact that they are and will be there. However, that also does not mean that you have to let them push you over the edge. Let us take our cue from the writer of the Serenity Prayer, Reinhold Niebuhr. I’m sorry, but I have taken the liberty to alter the prayer to include those who do not believe in religion, so everyone can realize that this prayer can ground anyone.

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 this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that I will make all things right
And never surrender to its ills;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy forever in the next.