Confidence and peace

I do a lot of work with independent colleges and universities, and a great deal with Catholic colleges. Part of the practice of many such institutions is to begin their events with prayer. While all are heartfelt and timely, some feel more profound than others.

One such moment occurred during the start of a project I worked on recently. Embedded in one opening prayer was the following line: “May we accept our responsibilities with confidence and peace.”

Different people carry responsibilities differently. Some accept them only superficially, without really taking on full ownership for their role. For some, the burden of responsibilities becomes so weighty that it becomes counterproductive. Others get rattled, pinging back and forth based on the issue of the day, the opinion of the last person they talked to, or how things seem to be going.

The line from this prayer calls us to embrace our responsibilities fully—not beyond what is ours to do but to fully own that which does fall to us. It calls us to do that work with the confidence that we are the right person for the work. And it calls us to do that work with a mind and spirit operating from a place of peace.

Does that mean everything is going to run perfectly and without conflict? Of course not! It’s easy to operate with confidence and peace when things are going well (Fans of the movie Caddyshack will recall that Judge Smails has a poem that describes this!) The value is in applying this approach when they are NOT—to take responsibility for what is ours, to move forward with the belief that things will turn out as they should, and to maintain a calm demeanor—especially when the world around us is stormy.

Think about something you have responsibility for today. Get clear about your relationship with that responsibility. What responsibility do you have? What is your approach to that responsibility? How will you choose to handle the setbacks and challenges that inevitably come? How might you put into place practices that can help you keep that approach?