Nothing lasts forever, but we live like it does

Few realities are as true as the fact that nothing lasts forever. We could talk about planned obsolescence and the limited useful life of all our appliances and technology. However, if there is a territory that knows about beginnings and ends, beginnings and endings, it is our own existence, as well as our feelings, emotions, relationships and practices.

It is difficult for all of us to accept that certain realities end and fade away. We live on borrowed money, but we cling to the idea that what we have today is permanent, indelible, almost. And we do it because our brain needs it. We need predictability and stability to leave no room for stress and fear.

Imagining that the love that gives us meaning today can end tomorrow makes us panic. Thinking about the idea that the work that gives us a salary today can end, overwhelms us. And of course, in our daily lives, we refuse to believe that those who are part of our daily lives can leave us at any moment.

However, Being aware of impermanence is an exercise in psychological health that we should all develop.

Many times we become aware of what we have when we lose it.

Nothing lasts forever, but we live like it does

We all understand the impermanence of material things. Even children know it when they realize that their favorite toys break and wear out. However, it is more difficult to accept the ephemerality of those other realities that are less perceptible or that, almost unconsciously, we take for granted.

We assume that those soul friends will always be. We take for granted that we will always count on our parents in any circumstance and that the happiness that embraces us today will continue to warm us tomorrow. However, Just as our childhood toys break, so do relationships.. And many times, one becomes fully aware of what he has when he loses it.

Each of us will go through those moments of loss, those thresholds of indescribable suffering in which we discover that nothing lasts forever. It will be then when something changes in us, when we lose the innocence of the eternal to integrate the reality of the ephemeral into our being. Resisting, refusing changes and losses is the main source of suffering in human beings.

Accept impermanence to live with greater passion

There are loves that end and others that begin. We lose people, we discover others. We lose jobs, and over time, we start new projects. We leave behind places, habits and even friendships, to later launch new stages. It’s true that nothing lasts forever, but it’s also true that when something ends, something new begins next.

Integrating the concept of transience or impermanence into our life learning is an exercise in psychological well-being. We say this because our Western culture is not used to these types of ideas. We are a consumerist society that continually throws away and buys new things.

Nothing seems to end for us, including relationships. After a breakup we look for another relationship on our dating apps, and we do the same with friendships. We live the present as if tomorrow did not exist, unlike Eastern cultures, which are undoubtedly more aware of our ephemeral and finite essence.

Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism or Hinduism fully integrate the idea of ​​ephemerality and impermanence into their lives. After all, only when we accept the transience of life and everything in it, do we deal better with adversity.

Likewise, when we understand that nothing that makes up our lives is permanent (partnership, work, love, health, money, etc.) we appreciate what we have with greater passion, because everything that is fleeting is tremendously valuable.

Accepting that everything is ephemeral can allow us to appreciate what surrounds us more.

Nothing lasts forever, but what you take care of lasts longer.

Dr. Shauna L. Shapiro, professor of psychology at Santa Clara University, published a very interesting article in 2006. In it she told us about the benefits of integrating various ideas from Buddhism into psychology. One of those concepts that would be worth assuming is precisely non-permanence, understanding that nothing is forever.

We are all finite and so are our moods. Just like happiness doesn’t last forever, neither does suffering.. Nothing is perpetual, and although adverse experiences will never be inevitable, the pain they cause us will not last forever. Everything has an expiration date, everything has a beginning and an end.

Now, if we are afraid of the ethereal nature of life and relationships, let us keep an idea in mind: what is cared for lasts much longer. And what is loved intensely, even if it is lost, will last forever in our memory. In addition, If there is something that lasts, it is the emotional mark we leave on others.

We are what we do, but above all what we transmit to those around us. That trail of affection, care, kindness and appreciation does not disappear, it leaves a mark until the end of time.. Like the marks of the sea on the rocks, like the fossilized amber in the trunks of trees…

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