Impermanence

There are times when a word or concept comes into my life repeatedly for a short period of time, and I'm challenged to pay attention to it and determine what it means to me.  So it was recently with the word "impermanence".  The word first came to me in a list I saw online of Deepak Chopra's Top 5 Tips for 2012 (www.ahalife.com).  His second tip suggests that we embrace impermanence.  Then, while selecting a new book at the public library yesterday, I chose two from the new arrivals shelf, including A Profound Mind: Cultivating Wisdom in Everyday Life by the Dalai Lama, (2011, Harmony Books, ISBN #978-0-385-51467-5), where, among other things, the characteristics of Buddhism are addressed.  The first characteristic was -- you've got it -- impermanence.   There are admittedly times when I think of things as lasting forever, never changing, but the truth is that things are changing constantly, even if in small increments.  When I choose to embrace impermanence instead of digging in my heels, I don't lose my sense of stability or my hope for the future.  Rather, I recalibrate my life and live in the present.  When I'm there, no matter what is happening in my life, I carry much less burden.  Fear and worry have less of a hold over me.  I become present to this very moment.  Now: A great place, a great time to be.