My reply to life’s impermanence

In my own life, which has been filled with existential angst since I was 17, I have arrived at two answers to life’s impermanence. They are something of a paradox, a constant source of tension, and they may not be everyone’s answers, but I’ll share them anyway, for what it’s worth. They are: 1) to build a narrative, and 2) to relish living now. Let me try to explain what I mean.

On the first point, creating and shaping a coherent story of our life is one of the most effective ways to find personal meaning; it’s our way of making sense of life’s apparent chaos. There are storylines and sub-plots, heroes and villains and timeless myths that we are re-enacting through our life. And we should never tire of reflecting on how enchanting our unique tale is, in all its vivid detail and variety.

Staying conscious of this unfolding personal mystery keeps us attuned to the bigger picture of our life; the arc of our shooting star. And yet, we live in the eternal now. The past and the future are both illusions; the present is our only true reality. This means that we must embrace and celebrate our life as it is, right now, with all its frustrations and imperfections, or else we will never be happy.

Contentment doesn’t mean we stop striving. It just means that we tune into the beauty that surrounds us. We remind ourselves to be grateful for the people in our life. We accept disappointment and sadness and pain as the price of being alive. We count our blessings. We share our love. And when the invisible currents of life chance to lift us up, we soar on bright wings with joy. Our life will never be more (or less) perfect than it is now, if we see it right. Perspective is everything.

So, storytelling and ‘presencing’ – both are forms of walking with awareness, living a more conscious life, and neither is easy, but trying brings its own rewards.