The Serenity Worksheet

Posted by: custodian Date: Nov 17, 2012

The Serenity Worksheet helps us to delegate our intentions and list of things to-do into two main columns: “My Side” and “Higher Power’s Side”.

To make entries in this worksheet, you will need to think of something for which you have control or responsibility towards, and something you don’t. You will put the things over which you have control on the left column titled “My Side” and you will put the things you don’t have control over in the right column “Higher Power’s Side”. Turning things over to our Higher Power gives us a sense of relief since we don’t have to deal with these things anymore or at least, we don’t have to deal with this particular issue today.

What you will put on your side vs. Higher Power’s side may be an issue of your and/or your sponsor’s interpretation, but we can give you some examples of how we would use the serenity worksheet:

If you have worked through your steps 6 and 7 and have identified some character defects which you are entirely ready to turn over, or are still working on becoming ready, put those on your Higher Power’s side.
If you regret things that you’ve done in the past even though you know that you have no control over them anymore, put them in the Higher Power’s side.
Things that you would like to do differently in the future or make different choices if and when they come up again, put them on “My Side”.
If you intend to do certain tasks such as fix the car, make a phone call or buy a gift, put them on “My Side”.
Do you have so many things on your to-do list that you can’t possibly fit them all in your schedule? Why not just turn some of these things not needing your immediate attention over to your Higher Power’s list while you are working on the more immediate things on your side. You might be pleasantly surprised that sometimes just letting go of something for the time being they might resolve on their own, or in another way than you had originally planned.

It is very important for us in our recovery to differentiate between planning and the results of planning. We have control over the planning (My Side), but we have no control over the results (HP’s Side). For example: if we created an entry under “My Side” called “My Career Plan”, then we would also create another entry on HP’s Side that we would call something like “Career Outcome”. Under the “My Career Plan” entry, we would write our plans, strategies, tasks, and footwork that believe we have to do to achieve our career dreams, which may continue to evolve, just like our goals might. Under “Career Outcome”, we would practice our acceptance of the possible outcomes of our career planning, of the many results and/or obstacles that may result from our footwork.

Click on the image on the top of this article to see an example of the Serenity Worksheet after a member made some entries.

To create an entry, under “Create New” on the right hand column, click on the “Personal Diary Entry” link. After you type your title, and body of the entry, you’ll need to click on the Serenity Worksheet radio button then choose between “My Side”, “HP Side”, or “Removed List”. Click save and click again on the Serenity Worksheet menu link under “View: Other Tools” so you can view it in the Serenity Worksheet page. See below how to create Serenity Worksheet Entry.