Life has lessons that come too late.
People often live as if everything will last forever. Parents will always be there. The person they love will always be there. Friends will always be there. Because they think tomorrow is long, today is easy to be indifferent. People save apologies for another occasion, save a call for next week, save a hug for next meeting.
But impermanence is unpredictable.
A green leaf can turn yellow after just one night. A seemingly normal meeting can be the last. A person who is still sitting next to you this morning, tonight has become a memory. It sounds sad, but understanding impermanence is not to live in anxiety, but to know how to cherish it. Because people know flowers will wither, they admire flowers more carefully. Knowing that youth will pass, they live more wholeheartedly. Knowing that parents will get old, they will be less irritable once. Knowing that the person they love cannot go with them for life, they learn to be gentler every day while still being together.
Many human sufferings originate from an illusion that you can own them. You want to keep the person you love to belong to you forever. You want time to stand still in the happiest part of yourself. But the truth is that no one owns anyone. If duyen is still there, stay. When duyen is gone, leave. The important thing is not to keep someone by your side, but how you treated them during their presence. Do you love and cherish enough? If the answer is yes, then when you are separated, your heart will be much lighter.
People who understand impermanence often live a little slower. They are less likely to argue about unnecessary things, less likely to win or lose a few words, less likely to pick up small mistakes. They know that the time spent together is shorter than we think. Today seeing parents is also happiness, hearing the voices of loved ones is also luck. Today being healthy to go, to work, to dream is also luck.
And then you realize, the most beautiful thing in life is not how much you hold, but being fully present in what you have. Therefore, impermanence is not scary, it reminds you to live more deeply, love more, and be more grateful. Because no one is sure what happens tomorrow, but today is the most precious thing that life is giving you.
