This Too Shall Pass
What’s the best advice you have given or received? It is a good, meaty question to ponder. Some answers might focus on patience, perseverance, and purpose, but I choose the idea that nothing in life is permanent. Change always happens.
On his office credenza, my father had a big chunk of crystal glass etched with the words, This Too Shall Pass. He often expressed this trusty motto to family and friends. The phrase is credited to medieval Persian Sufi poets like Rumi and King Solomon in Jewish folklore, who expounded on the fragility and impermanence of life. Whether good or bad, a day or an event won’t last. Don’t get too comfortable or complacent with things running smoothly. And don’t get too worried or discouraged with things not going as planned. Change is inevitable.
Flexibility favors life’s game. Clichés like “roll with the punches, grin and bear it, weather the storm, make lemonade out of lemons” all refer to ways of handling the hard times. A hopeful, positive attitude can help propel us forward in the face of misfortune.
Picture a young, married couple moving into their first home. After a week of settling in, their basement floods. Facing unanticipated expenses, they will repair the fiasco together. Experiences filled with joy and warmth can suddenly switch and “turn on a dime” creating disappointment, chaos, and disaster. Rebounding moves life’s game forward, teaches us lessons, and can make us stronger.
Concrete, positive action, and hopeful thinking may help cope with adversity. Whether we like it or not, we must adapt to the good and bad of inevitable change. How do we react when life throws us a fastball, slider, or curveball like a pregnancy, medical diagnosis, or job opportunity? Death and devastation can leave us with unfathomable grief that can last a lifetime. Whether we want to stand still with our suffering, time and change move forward.
Resilience is a good ally of change. The retirement life of sitting back in an easy chair with a good book is so simple and carefree. Retirees are done raising children, have no alarm to set, and no pressing meetings to attend. Then, wham! A knee needs replaced or the car breaks down, what now? Blink, take a deep breath, and press on.
Anticipation and Preparedness. Think ahead as if it will happen. To temper a tragedy, what might be needed: a ready emergency kit, accessible documents/account numbers, or a built-up slush fund? Vice versa, what would secure a job promotion, protect a windfall of inheritance money, or lottery ticket win: seek out a financial planner or have a budget/savings plan in place?
Many famous people have given us their words of wisdom on This Too Shall Pass:
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. - Charles Darwin (naturalist)
There is nothing permanent except change. - Heraclitus (Greek philosopher)
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable. - Helen Keller (author & activist)
This Too Shall Pass is a good reminder to embrace life with anticipation, preparedness, resilience, and positivity. So, dearest gentle reader (a phrase from Lady Whistledown in the TV series, Bridgerton) …
What’s the best advice you have given or received?
Bit by bit, that’s all she wrote…