A fleeting world
In the coming week I will be celebrating (and blogging about) two events—a birthday and an anniversary.
These two events mark the passage of time and the coming and going of milestones. It puts me in mind of a quote I keep posted on my office bulletin board:
Regard this fleeting world like this:
Like stars fading and vanishing at dawn,
like bubbles on a fast-moving stream,
like morning dewdrops evaporating on blades of grass,
like a candle flickering in a strong wind,
echoes, mirages, and phantoms, hallucinations,
and like a dream.
—Buddha
Do you find that quote depressing? Some people do.
I find it inspiring. It makes me sit up and pay attention. It makes me appreciate whatever is fleeting by me.
I will celebrate my milestones knowing they are mirages I can’t hold on to, so all the more to be enjoyed in the moment.
Posted on September 23, 2014, in Arlene Smith, Arlene Somerton Smith, good faith, Gratitude, Inspiration, Living life to the fullest, quote and tagged anniversary, Birthday. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
When the stars have faded, the bubbles swept away, the dewdrops evaporated and the last flicker of the candle has died, does it matter if one star was brighter, one bubble bigger, one dewdrop more iridescent, or one flame from the candle brighter than another? We enjoy their beauty as a whole while we can. So it should be with our own lives. When our own flame dies, all that will matter is how we in our own way added to the brilliance of the world. We won’t be remembered for what we owned. We’ll only be appreciated in the moment for the sparkle, colour, warmth and beauty those closest to us enjoyed for having known us for that nano-second of time. Your Buhda quote inspires me to strive to add my own teeny weeny spark to the overall beauty of our fleeting universe.The alternative is to shrivel up and be snuffed out without ever having lived.
Arlene, I neglected to wish you a happy birthday and happy anniversary. Hope you enjoy your birthday adventure.