MovieChat Forums > Changing Lanes (2002) Discussion > God Help Me To Accept The Things That I ...

God Help Me To Accept The Things That I Can't Change

posted 18 years ago by muppetheadt
20 replies | jump to latest

I absolutely love this line. The movie and its message is brilliantly tied together when Samuel L. Jackson's character says this, I thought it really well linked the respective stories and situations of both lead roles, and it is a really powerful concluding idea for a film to have - certainly one of the most powerful I have ever seen.

I liked it so much that I wrote a song for my (very poorly named) band (we're called "The Fonix Monkies") featuring this line - so please nobody else steal it cos I stole it fair and square in the first place! - if you want to listen to the song it's on our Myspace:
http://music.myspace.com/thefonixmonkies
and the song's called "Chain Reaction".
Oh you could even just download it from here: http://homepage.eircom.net/~timoney/demo-chainreaction.mp3

I love movies that inspire artistic creativity, especially when it's based on a philosophy or idea about life. Another good example is "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" - as Ben Kingsley states when playing Mohandas K. Gandhi in the brilliant 1982 movie, Gandhi. I'd steal that line as well but my friend "baggsed" it (like saying "Shotgun" or "I want that thing for myself"), so I'd feel bad about putting it in a song even though he'll probably never bother using it in his own ones - but if anyone wants a line to rob from a movie, there's a good one! I guess this is all total nonsense to be honest, and if you really want to take the one I used above then I don't really mind, cos it's not as though I'd ever know... So yeah sure go ahead Carpe Diem and Live the Dream!

Cheers!
-K

[–] emla808 18 years ago

You didn't steal it, the film did. That is the first line form the Serenity Prayer, a mantra within AA. What rock have you been living under?

[–] muppetheadt 18 years ago

Oh come on now, that's not fair. What rock you ask? Just cos i've never heard of this movie you're talking about i've been living under a rock now have i?

I know well it's a mantra within AA but if you're being picky then technically this Serenity Prayer movie that you're talking about stole it first (although according to IMdB there's no such movie - http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=serenity+prayer would you care to send me a link of where i can see more about that movie? Thanks!)

Besides I'd wonder if Changing Lanes stole the context as well as the line - if they did then perhaps it's not as amazing a line as i thought before. What i liked a lot about this line in the movie was the context, more so than the line - the way that it's a fairly universal idea behind it, you don't need to be an alcoholic or addict at all to apreciate the universal application it has. At least that's what i think.

God Help Me To Accept The Things That I Can't Change (That I Won't Change)

[–] pattokun 18 years ago

Serenity Prayer is not a movie! He means this prayer is something they use in AA.

[–] muppetheadt 18 years ago

Oh right then... that makes a lot more sense, my bad, i feel like a royal idiot but this feeling is not misplaced so it's alright!

God Help Me To Accept The Things That I Can't Change (That I Won't Change)

[–] tekbarrier 18 years ago

Haha this whole discussion is funny. You thought Serentity Prayer was a movie, then the other guy says no it isn't, then you say oops, my bad. Har har har.

[–] muppetheadt 18 years ago

thanks for the commentary it really cleared things up...

-----------------------
God Help Me To Accept The Things That I Can't Change (That I Won't Change)

[–] bdogg7 16 years ago

if y'all are really curious, here's the entire
serenity prayer that sam jackson says througout the
movie. its tennants and many versions have existed
for many hundreds of years in many different societies,
but this is probably the most succinct wording of it.
and we only say the first bit @ the beginning of AA.
i say it many many times every day...that's just part of
being alcoholic-

God 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, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

[–] Mex5150 15 years ago

God 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, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Although it's a christian thing, it sounds and feels far more Buddhist in spirit.

~Mex

--

Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved?

[–] ryderdvs 15 years ago

Wow. The ignorance of this thread is shocking.

[–] Mex5150 15 years ago

Wow. The ignorance of this thread is shocking.

So why don't you enlighten us?

~Mex

--

Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved?

[–] ryderdvs 15 years ago

Uh, read the second post. It's self-explanaotory dip$hit.

[–] Mex5150 15 years ago

Uh, read the second post. It's self-explanaotory dip$hit.

So you condemn the entire thread just because of one daft comment posted here? Anyway I think the biggest display of ignorance on show here is you calling somebody you have never met and know nothing about 'dip$hit' LOL

Also if that was the post you had a problem with why did you reply to mine instead?

~Mex

--

Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved?

[–] FallenOnDays17 14 years ago

Oh, and I second the notion that the ignorance in this thread is indeed shocking,[everything I own starts to pile up like bones]

[–] HorusEye 15 years ago

I think the AA mentality is hugely flawed. Making yourself a martyr and counting every day since your last drink. That only enhances the illusion that you gave something up when you stopped drinking. Like being sober is a sacrifice.

Millions of people are hooked on cigarettes, because quitting will make them think they're giving up one of life's pleasures, which is totally just a *beep* created by nicotine addiction. By breaking that illusion I managed to quit almost effortlessly, because I know fully I'm not missing out on anything (except maybe lung cancer). I think AA should try that philosophy on drinking too. Don't become a martyr, just quit and be happy about a brighter future.

[–] FallenOnDays17 14 years ago

After reading through these posts I just have to set a couple things straight.First off, AA/NA are NOT a "christian thing". We believe in a higher power and that's it. Whether that higher power is the christian God or not is entirely up to the individual. You could be part of any religion in the world so long as that religion includes a belief in a greater force/a higher power/a God (however you want to say it.)Secondly, and this is mainly directed towards HorusEye, I believe the AA/NA program is anything but flawed. I would LOVE for you to tell the ladies and gentleman that have 10/20/30 years clean and sober that the program in which saved their life is "hugely flawed". NO ONE who has ever completed the steps and worked the program to it's full extent has failed...and that's a fact. Counting the days you have clean/sober is a crucial element of recovery. It gives people something to accomplish and keeps them going "one day at a time." Please don't criticise something you know nothing about.

[–] Kevinology_Rises 9 years ago

First off, AA/NA are NOT a "christian thing". We believe in a higher power and that's it. Whether that higher power is the christian God or not is entirely up to the individual. You could be part of any religion in the world so long as that religion includes a belief in a greater force/a higher power/a God (however you want to say it.)

Really? So for instance, Satanists would be welcome too? Satan counts as a higher power. What about those who believe in a god who has absolutely no interest whatsoever in human affairs? I would imagine the system has to rely on a god who "loves" humans and wants humans to do what he wants them to do, as opposed to an apathetic deity, no?

Secondly, and this is mainly directed towards HorusEye, I believe the AA/NA program is anything but flawed. I would LOVE for you to tell the ladies and gentleman that have 10/20/30 years clean and sober that the program in which saved their life is "hugely flawed".

So because the program works for some people, it's therefore flawless? Sorry, I don't see the logic in that.

NO ONE who has ever completed the steps and worked the program to it's full extent has failed...and that's a fact.

Could you please support this "fact" with some evidence? Furthermore, even if that were true, why would it make it flawless?

Counting the days you have clean/sober is a crucial element of recovery. It gives people something to accomplish and keeps them going "one day at a time." Please don't criticise something you know nothing about.

Which would work for some people, but with others, as HorusEye said, it could merely validate an illusion of losing something instead of gaining something - sacrificing instead of improving. It depends entirely on the person.

"I have no idea what "hammer time" is. Or how it differs from regular time."

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

so athiests arnt allowed into AA?

[–] NesterTheJester 7 years ago

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Sam Jackson recites this exact same line in a movie he made previously to Changing Lanes, 5 years earlier in the movie "One Eight Seven". Maybe he's partial to this passage, personally.

[–] 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jasonbourne (1027) 4 years ago

This movie was convoluted at the end, but it's called Changing Lanes for a reason. To me the prayer means I can't change other people from being the way they are and what they believe; All I can do is change myself. And Doyle ended up doing that. He didn't take that drink and instead had a Coke. It would've been over for him if he did. Second, we find out from his sponsor that it wasn't his only problem. It was him. He just had a way about him to cause chaos, get into arguments, or conflicts instead of being able to control himself, figure out the situation, and try to resolve the situation. This wasn't easy to do either.

For example, Doyle had to get to court on time himself, but he didn't even try to do that. He could've just accepted the blank check instead of having to resolve it the right way and maybe get a ride to his court appointment, too. Gavin would've agreed to driving him to somewhere where he could catch a cab to his court appointment if he could drive away to his appointment.

In the end Doyle did that by giving back the power of appointment document and apologizing. He wasn't about getting the most money he could from Gavin. He never tried to do that. By then Gavin also had found a way to resolve his life without going through what his bosses/partners wanted him to do. Perhaps he learned about honesty from Doyle. He was somehow able to do it through Doyle and was able to give his 20 minutes of his life back to him. It was a contrived happy ending, but otherwise this movie would be worse than it was lol.