Computers, Serenity and Relationship Issues

This Saturday I spent almost two hours on the phone with Tech Support for our desktop computer.  It was a rather frustrating two hours.  I couldn't fully explain the problem but once the nature of the issue got figured out by the technician and he "took over" my computer remotely he still was unable to fix the problem.  As of this writing it remains unresolved.

Life works that way sometimes, doesn't it?  Sometimes you have a problem and you can't even put a finger on it.  You know something's not working the way it should--a friendship, a marriage, a relationship with one of our kids--and but can't really pinpoint why.  And even if you get professional help, and give them the authority to help you deal with it, it still doesn't get "fixed".

In terms of my computer, I am, for the moment, just ignoring the problem.  It still "works"--I can still do most things I want and need to do on it.  But that doesn't work in relationships.  At least not for long.  We can ignore an issue when it seems unresolvable.  Or we can acknowledge it is beyond our capability to fix.  At that point we have a choice.  We can be nurse a resentment--or we can turn it over to God.

I always find it helpful to use the Serenity Prayer in such situations, maybe it will help you as well:

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.

It may not work when it comes to computer problems--but I find it very helpful when it comes to challenging relationship issues.