Impermanence-embrace your life as it is, cope with hard times better and value good times more.
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Impermanence-embrace life as it is
The light, shadow, pleasant, unpleasant, joy, pain, good, bad… why not embrace all.
Every time I practice meditation, I am reminded of the impermanent nature of our lives.
While you’re practicing meditation there are all sorts of different things arising in the moment. You become aware of the thoughts, emotions, feelings, physical sensations, sounds…They all come and go and never stay with you. Even the object of your awareness is constantly changing. One moment you feel your breath rising and falling, the other moment your heart beats or sounds around you.
Impermanence is easily seen and experienced in meditation which gives me an insight into the impermanence of life. If there is a constant movement inside me there must be outside too.
Everything is impermanent, every tree, flower, all the animals, insects, humans, oceans, sun…
We struggle to integrate this concept to our daily life. We still think, act, behave, talk, love like life is permanent. When we think about impermanence, we are face to face with our mortality which brings fear in us.
Embracing impermanence allows us to live more and worry less, love more and fear less. We create peace, equanimity and freedom.
Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.
impermanence helps you cope with hard times better
Whenever I feel fear, sadness or overwhelm I hear this little inner voice saying, “this too shall pass. “ I know it will pass which makes any hardship easier. These unpleasant emotions are also worthy of being felt.
I love this quote from Pema Chödrön, “You are the sky, everything else is just the weather.” Our thoughts, emotions, feelings, the cells in our bodies are changing very single second, minute, nothing lasts forever. Just like the weather, sometimes it’s rainy, the other times stormy, cloudy, sunny. It allows us to have a full human experience.
So, how we can be defined by our thoughts and emotions that are constantly arising and passing away. Therefore, there are not reliable nor believable. Then we tend to identify ourselves with objects, possessions, positions, or identity, but one day they will be gone. We cling to objects of desire and when they are taken from us, we suffer.
We need to constantly remind ourselves that nothing lasts forever.
Impermanence helps you value good times more
When I feel happy and satisfied, I know this too shall pass which makes me appreciate those moments more. You enjoy every moment you have more deeply and don’t take anything for granted. By being constantly aware of the impermanent nature of life you cultivate gratitude, happiness and well-being in your everyday life.
After all, impermanence is what makes life special. It is a gift.
Take the time daily, even five minutes, to sit down to contemplate impermanence and connect to your inner world. Simply notice how a thought arises, stays for a moment and disappears. Rather than being lost in your thoughts and overwhelmed by your emotions, you can take a step back and say, “Oh this is what I’m thinking, feeling, experiencing right now.”
Daily meditation practice offers you the personal experience of impermanence.
This is one of the skills that meditation teaches us, to embrace our experience as it is. It’s a fundamental tool for embracing impermanence.
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