17th Century Nun's
Prayer

Lord, thou knowest better than I know
myself that I am growing older
And someday will be old.
Keep me from the
fatal habit of thinking I must say something
On every subject on every
occasion.
Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.

Make me thoughtful but not moody,

helpful but not bossy.
With my vast
store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all,
But thou knowest, Lord,
that I want a few friends at the end.
Keep my mind free from the recital of
endless details;
Give me wings to get to the point!
Seal my lips of my
aches and pains - they are increasing
And the love of rehearsing them is
becoming sweeter as the years go by.
Keep me reasonably sweet; but know that
I do not want to be a saint just yet -
Some of them are so hard to live
with.
Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places,
And
talents in unexpected people.
And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them
so.
Amen.

https://www.stlouisparish.org/html/praynun.htm