This Too Shall Pass

Daily Meditation 957–10/16/2024

I know that, ironically, we just “bashed” platitudes yesterday and then today I’m writing about a platitude…I do love some good irony! But when a concept trickles in, I can’t resist.

While we are “in the moment” of pain and suffering — loss of loved one, fired from a job, falling off the wagon back into an addiction — it feels like the end of the world. Every day is agonizingly drawn out. Each morning, you dread facing the day and each evening, you dread the encroaching, devouring jet of night which will only activate your imagination, your memories.

In the moment, we cannot re-prepare.

But, when life is going well, we can always have the “this too shall pass” attitude. Here’s how to reframe it.

How many of your days go “uneventfully” in terms of suffering? To be honest, a majority of your days on Earth are good, relatively speaking. Uneventful, if not outright average. It helps bearing this in mind as we enter the bad times.

“This too shall pass,” we can mumble bitterly during loss, remembering that, sure — the current days are dragging out. Your mother, father, sibling or whomever are gone…but these sour days of grief will soon be gone as well.

Keeping a daily bearing on how every day goes (“Is today a 7? A 9?”) helps us…