The Transient of Life

“Life is never easy, and it shouldn’t be”.

This is one of my favorite quotes. I don’t remember who said this though. My understanding is, don’t expect your life will be easy, it is impossible, but at the same time, because life is not easy, that’s why you don’t take things for granted. This is easier said than done. it hurts, since we worry about the future, we fail, regret, stumble through life. Probably, this is our nature as an social animal.

That being said, we must challenge and overcome the negative tendencies that can rule and plunge us into suffering. Even though we know all things eventually fall apart and decay, however, we worry about things that we can’t control, thus losing sight of “the moment”.

Other than that, since change is imminent, a somber reality is “trying to hold on to any of it, is futile”. Ironically, because of our desperate efforts , we end up suffocating ourselves, and confining ourselves in a small box. To put it simply, we haven’t embraced the totality of life itself.

When I think about the beauty of life, what comes most easily to mind is cherry blossom. The flowers bloom intensively, but only for a short period of time, like two weeks. And then, the flowers die and fall. Interestingly, because it only lasts for such as short period, it is undoubtedly appreciated and cherished more. The truth that I can see here is that everything is transient, so stop holding on.

Understanding and accepting that innate uncertainty of life helps us evade the overwhelming feeling of morbidity associated with impermanence. No matter how we resist, life continues to occur despite the continuous passing of objects and experiences. Instead of clinging onto our desire, we should let life do its own things.