I want to be calm.

I want to be unflappable.

Why, why can't I manage that?

Truthfully sometimes I do manage it.  However it seems that as I get older, I lose my cool more and more often.  Isn't that backwards?  Aren't I supposed to get calmer, wiser, and more compassionate as I get older?

I don't know.  All I know is that I am often agitated, that usually it's over something small, and that I sometimes act in a way that I regret later.

What to do?

I hatch a plan.  I figure God's got calm and He's willing to share.  

They say religion brings peace.  So I pray for calm.  I pray for God to keep pushing me back to the path He wants me on.   I pray that God will give me the strength and calm to always act in way that makes Him proud.

Here's the hitch: God must want me to experience the struggle because He hasn't yet bestowed that constant, imperturbable calm I've been asking for.

On one particularly calm-impaired, failure-ridden day I decided to see what the Bible had to say about staying calm.  Here's what I found:

"The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace."  (Psalms 29:11)

"And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me."  (Daniel 10:19)

“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”  (Mark 4:39)

(All Bible quotes from Bible on the Web at http://www.bibleontheweb.com/Default.asp.)

Do I still get stressed and lose my cool?  Sadly yes.  Am I getting better at staying calm and kind?  Happily yes.  It's going to take me a lifetime to perfect imperturbable calm, but at least now I'm heading in the right direction and have some powerful assistance at my side.