If you are stuck in a horrible point in your life and you're just not getting anywhere, know this...
This too shall pass.
If you've just broken up and your heart still pounds with such a volume of hurt, you sometimes can't breathe, remember this...
This too shall pass.
If you just hit the all-time financial low and will probably have to cut your gym membership and even move to a smaller place...
This too shall pass.
This simple 4 letter phrase is probably one of the most important sentences you should be aware of. The Buddhists believe in impermanence.
Change happens, as we speak of it; the sun today is different from the sun tomorrow; a bowl of stagnant water is reduced in clarity or level even when left untouched; and even your body changes with every breath you take.
The moment you understand this concept of impermanence, the easier it will be for you to see all the upheavals and downfalls in life are just a state of the current situation and that one fine day...it too will surely pass.
Acknowledging impermanence and practicing it in your daily life will help you understand that the only way bad things will go away is if, you understand it will not be staying for too long. When you realize that, you will automatically and unconsciously work in ways that will accelerate the 'going away process' of such a situation.
Let's say that you are broke and have been surviving on cold potatoes because you somehow or rather didn't manage to pay for gas before your money ran out. This situation, too, will surely pass.
This makes dealing with the situation a whole lot easier. You stop lamenting about it. You stop wondering or groaning about it.
Carry this believe, that this part in life will surely pass, and it's true! Once you believe that things will change, you create the manifestation of change. It's amazingly simple.
Believing in impermanence is the start to the manifestation of change.
To be fair, this also works the other way around. Even the best of times will eventually come to an end. A great day out will always come to an end. A blissful lasting marriage will eventually end with death. A wonderful career will gradually reach its peak and retirement will be eminent.
The phrase "good times never last" is too true to ignore. But just by knowing that, you are wiser and stronger when things do take a dip. You will also begin to appreciate the good times more, simply because you understand the basic life concept that everything will pass.
Related Impermanence topics from the blogosphere...
MoonRaven's Social Alchemy Blog: Impermanence
Impermanence is the easiest of the three to demonstrate, but one of the hardest to come to grips with. We find impermanence and change everywhere around us. Pema Chödrön, who I have been reading and has been a great influence on me, ...
Publish Date: 07/08/2010 22:00
http://social-alchemy.blogspot.com/2010/07/impermanence.html
A Simple Life: Buddhist Basics ~ Impermanence « Sweep the dust ...
Through introspection, impermanence emerges as an all-pervading essence marking everything around us. We might attribute an eternal principle, or higher self to explain this, but even that action is made up of temporary thoughts and ...
Publish Date: 06/23/2010 5:37
http://zendirtzendust.com/2010/06/23/a-simple-life-buddhist-basics-impermanence/
Seasons of the Soul: Impermanence
It isn't good to know too much. It is deflating to the idealist in us who seeks to do good and believes that good will prevail. Yet, after years of observation - and indeed with the reality of life -...
Publish Date: 06/30/2010 9:44
http://kathleenjacoby.blogs.com/seasonsofthesoul/2010/06/impermanence.html
Buddhist Meditation (10) Impermanence
Impermanence as a basic characteristic of everything that exists and how meditation is shifting the focus from contents to process. Are human beings valuable or worthless...?
