Happiness is Accepting Impermanence

Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don’t struggle against it, we are in harmony with reality. – Pema Chodron

I was sitting in my office the other day reflecting on changes that I have seen in my job over the last couple of years.  A really strong and effective manager left our institution a couple of years ago.  During her tenure she made a series of effective changes to our culture and institution, changes that in my opinion made our organization more professional and forward thinking.  Unfortunately, the culture of our institution is such that we seem to pray at the altar of the status quo, as such, any change is perceived as negative.  In the last two years I’ve watched our institution effectively erase all of the changes that had been made.  Thinking about this made me think about impermanence.  You see I have personally labored under the impression that if you do good work, make positive change, that you can in fact make permanent change.  To a degree this is true, but the fact of the matter is that eventually even the best accomplishments will someday be outdone, or even gotten rid of by someone else.

This lack of permanence doesn’t mean we should not try to do anything positive, it just means we should realize the ephemeral nature of all that is life.  Now this can be a depressing and terrifying idea at some level, but can also be used to make us happier.  We can use this thought to understand the importance of mindfulness.  Here are a couple of articles on how specifically you can use the idea of impermanence to be happier.  Give them a read and have a happier day my friends ~ Rev Kane

Six Lessons on Embracing Change and Impermanence from Tiny Buddha

Accepting Impermanence from the Institute of Mindfulness Studies

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