Thoughts on Impermanence

So, I was thinking about the way things usually work out & I came to the conclusion that they rarely turn out the way I want them to.

Losing all of the essays I was keeping in the Blogger app, when my phone broke (I had 33 drafts), has given me a lesson in impermanence. The Dalai Lama, in the film Seven Years in Tibet, says something like: "If I can do something about it, worrying will do no good; if I can't do anything about it, of what use is worrying?" The essays are probably on my old phone, but I have no access to that phone, now. Crying won't help; screaming won't do any good! Impermanence wins again.

This is also a good lesson in acceptance. When things are not as you want them, it can be easy to feel bad & to give up & forget about your dreams. I know, because I've done that too many times. After my other phone died, I took some time to think about what's really important & what I should begin & continue to focus on.

We are never totally in control of all the lessons we'll have to learn & the tests are often way out of our hands. I think we'd be too lenient on ourselves if we could control what & how we're tested. We would let ourselves off the hook on too many things & we would give ourselves points when we don't deserve any. At least that's how I have been & people I know have been.

"Oh, well, I just have this little issue & I should really cut myself some slack. Being hard on myself won't help."

But, sometimes, if we aren't hard on ourselves no one will be & we'll just keep on "slouching toward" our private "Bethlehem".* Everything will stay the same, & we'll never reach that place where we can be born into our true life.

Something I used to hear a lot was: if you don't pass one of life's tests, you'll have to keep taking it again until you do pass. So... Will you let those little things become huge? Or, will you whittle them down to a manageable size & kick their butts?

Live everyday to the fullest & never give up on your true life. Ayer, hoy y mañana!

*See: W. B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"