Sunday, November 17, 2013
Day Seventeen
Impermanence. The fact of all the facts of life. Everyone, everything is changing, growing, decaying, transforming. How does the reality of impermanence strike you right now? Might be frightening, the thought of losing something or someone. Might be freeing, the knowledge that one day this too shall pass, whatever "this" is for you.
This old chestnut of a song implores us to use the realization of impermanence to wake up. To not delay life any longer, and use the time that we have now as well as we can and treat it as something precious and worthy of trying to savor. As Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, "Aware of impermanence, {we can} become positive, loving and wise. Impermanence is good news. Without impermanence, nothing would be possible. With impermanence, every door is open for change."
Today, what are you grateful for that you know to be impermanent? And how can you express gratitude to, for, or with this changing person or experience?
--Ken
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I have never had a good memory. And I do not have feelings of nostalgia for any particular time in my past - except for my wedding day when the world was just beginning. My daughter recently brought up an event that she remembers being traumatic for me, and of which I have zero recollection. I guess I am lucky and certainly grateful because such events are not baggage I carry around.
ReplyDeleteI would have struggled so mightily with this topic one week ago... but not tonight. Tonight I embrace the moments in time, as impermanent as they are, as gifts from those with whom I am taking this journey... this life. My mom is dying... but so are we all... the moments of beauty and truth that we enjoy are the things that I treasure... especially in the darkest times... Such grace.
ReplyDeleteAs I approach a milestone I embrace this song! It is so true that if you blink you can miss it. It seems the older my son gets the faster the years go by. So, I am taking note of Doris and I am going to enjoy myself. There is no use to worry, to stress, to beat myself up with the majority of the things I cannot control..but I can control how I view things, how I react to things, so I am going to enjoy myself! (((HUGS)))
ReplyDeleteTiffany
I talked with my dad today, who lives in Indiana. We discussed plans for my visit over Christmas, and after we hung up, I realized how much I'm looking forward to seeing him. My mom died in 2010 and ever since her passing, it's felt different....harder to be so far away geographically from my dad and the rest of my family. I've struggled with guilt a lot over the years (I'm the only person in my family who doesn't live near my parents). At the same time, I think that I've tried to become more aware of making the most of our time when we are physically together, and of trying to find ways to stay connected when we can't see each other. In some ways this distance has also felt like a gift, as it makes me more mindful of every text, every phone call, every interaction I have with my family. I'm very thankful for the conversation that I had with my dad today, and I'm going to carry that gratitude with me.
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