Thursday, January 19, 2023
Pain follows an unwillingness to accept what you cannot control – endings. When you latch on, it blinds you to the temporal nature of all things, even the lifespan of a human. Why should the ending not come? We don’t control the timing, but everything about your life is but a flash, and the contents all have a beginning and an ending. There are no exceptions to this truth. Don’t forget all things come to an end – governments, organizations, ideas, customs, and on and on. There is nothing that you can see with your eyes that will be on this planet in 10,000 years.
When you forget about endings, and live with that fragile notion of security, you are setting yourself up for heartache. The illusion of permanency is what causes trouble when things suddenly end. The key is not to get anxious, it’s to appreciate while it lasts, and to be mindful that endings always arrive. The best way is to let things go when they are over, and to have never held on too tightly in the first place.
The forever constant includes perpetual beginnings and endings. Watching things come and go in a fully-present neutrality is the secret to peace. Endings get harder when you pretend they’ll never come, but physical structure is like sugar dissolving. You cannot hold onto it. That’s not to say you can’t appreciate and cherish, but it means it’s not yours to keep. Nothing is for keeps. You are the borrower, and at some point, you’ll be the returner of all goods, people, and experience. Be more vigilant about what only seems like “forever.” Those misconceptions are the thieves in the night that sneak up on you and break your heart when things come to an end. Don’t let them catch you off guard.