This too shall pass

I haven’t read a great deal of Buddhist philosophy, but I did read one book of stories at one point. I can’t remember the name, nor the author. In fact I can only remember very little, but the thing I do remember will stay with me for a very long time. At one point the author explains that something we should absolutely take to heart is the sentence ‘this too shall pass’.

As long as we never forget that our low moments will be less low and our high moments higher. After all, depression becomes a great deal easier to deal with if you realise that it will end. What’s more, understanding that the high moments in your life will also pass will make you appreciate them more. You will be less likely to become complacent and more appreciative of the good times you already have.

‘But wait,’ some of you might say, ‘how can you truly enjoy something if you can’t forget that it will end?’

The thing is, I don’t think we ever really do forget that the moment will end. True happiness (or ecstatic happiness) is at best momentary. For a moment you can suspend reality and live in the moment, but within minutes – if not seconds – the moment will pass and though we’ll still be happy, the worries in our mind will come slipping back in.

The realisation that this too shall pass means that those moments of ecstatic happiness will mean more to us and, what is more, those people, things or ideas that bring them will be appreciated more.

Is that pessimistic? I think realistic is more like it, though of course one person’s realism is another’s pessimism. Still, I don’t think it’s pessimistic, as I see myself as an optimistic person.