I’ll always remember the day my son-in-law asked my permission to marry my daughter. It’s a little bit of an old fashioned idea, but I sincerely appreciated the show of respect he paid to me. We all like him, so I was pleased to say yes. However, within about ten minutes something dawned on me. When she left home for college she was gone, but when she gets married she’s not coming back!!!!!!
I had an extremely hard time accepting that idea. I always wanted to be a Dad. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. I would still be her Daddy, but things were going to change forever. I struggled with this reality for a few days. It was eating me up. I was reading the book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. I got to the part about Transiency. The second sentence said, “That everything changes is the basic truth for each existence.” The last sentence in the section summed up what I needed to do. “But no matter how you feel about this teaching, it is very important for you to change your way of thinking and accept the truth of transiency.”
I had a choice, to stay in agony over what was changing or accept the inevitable truth that transiency is the very nature of existence. I decided to view the situation as one of the biggest lessons of my life. This too shall pass. As I type this I know that the days are numbered for our wonderful rescue dog Skippy. He rescued us twelve years ago and is the best dog I’ve ever had. I am in the process of letting him go as I take care of him in this time of transition.
I remember hearing a sermon on tithing over thirty years ago. The preacher compared the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee lets the Jordan River pass through it and is full of life. The Dead Sea holds on to the water, but it eventually evaporates anyway, leaving behind a poisonous mixture. I can try to hold on to my blessings and become toxic. Or I can let the blessings flow through my life understanding that they will pass, which helps me appreciate them even more.
May you have enough today, one moment at a time.
THIS HELPED ME 
This speaks to me as I begin to become aware that major changes are on my horizen as my physical abilites begin to fade. Besides “transiency,” you have two other favorite words that speak to me, i.e. “acceptance” and “surrender.” Sometimes when I’m sitting in silence and focusing on my breath, I breath in with the word “acceptance” and breath out with the word “surrender.”
Thanks for these “thought starters.”
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