Telling the Difference

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference.” I first noticed this quotation at the end of the book on page 209. I thought it was a beautiful phrase, and I thought about how it relates to the entire story. Billy cannot change the fact that he is unstuck in time, and its paradoxical how he is at the same time forced to live his life all over again, unable to change what wrong he has done, having to accept his mistakes. In this chapter it is said that the plaque that reads this helps Billy guide himself through times of indifference. I find that this relates to my life in the sense that it is when I begin to care less about my life and what is going on in it, that the wanting to change fades away. Ironically, it is at this moment that one must take this phrase into account.