Nothing is permanent. That’s not really news, but it may mean more than you think, on a day-to-day level.
In each moment, everything around you is constantly changing, and it never changes back. It’s always new.
Some changes are subtle, some dramatic, but all of it is changing.
Life is uncertain by its very nature. Except for this:
No matter what is happening right now,
It will never happen again.
Not quite like this anyway.
Think about where you are, and who you are, today. Whatever your situation is as a whole, it belongs entirely to today.
You will never have exactly these same problems again. Some will disappear, some will get worse, and some were never problems at all.
You’ll never have exactly these same advantages again. You could lose any of your capabilities at any time: your possessions, your sight, your mobility, your freedom, your mind.
You can be certain you will lose all of them, you just don’t know when, and which will disappear first.
It’s easy to spot similarities and patterns in your life. But true repetition can only be imagined. Tedium and boredom are both patterns of thought, not circumstance.
Your situation is an extremely delicate and unstable structure, it just can’t stay the way it is. Too many moving parts. Things give out, break, and float away. And in their wake is something — or someone — new and unforeseeable.
Your to-do list and your inbox will never again contain today’s unique assortment of hopes and worries. By next month you will have moved on from most of it. By next year you’ll be someone else anyway.
Your kids will never be exactly this age again.
This group of friends you hang around with, they’ll never be the same group of friends as they are today.
Next time they’ll be slightly different people, in slightly different places in their lives, and in yours.
Maybe you’ve already seen one of them for the last time.
The way you feel right now will never be felt again, at least not quite. Your mood right now, and all its nuances and complexities, is as unique as a fingerprint.
When you go to bed tonight, whatever palette of worries or dreams your mind is featuring… that particular show is one night only.
The way the light is playing off the table, as you drink your morning coffee, will never appear again. To anyone.
Think about everyone in the world around you: your family, the faces in the media, the passers-by on the street, the seven-figure bigshots downtown, factory workers, convicts, Members of Parliament, poets, ex-girlfriends, child prodigies, football jocks, internet marketing gurus, bishops, gamblers, authors, class clowns and cable guys.
Every one of them, in a good hundred years, will be dead.
Their stories will be over, and the whole planet will be inherited by all new people. This is a certainty, if there is such a thing.
This is it. There are no rehearsals, and no reruns.
Happy, sad, problems or no problems, ready or not… the camera’s rolling, and it’s on you.
However you felt yesterday, recognize today that we are now officially on the air.
We are live.
You will never be this young again.
Photo by Muffet
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Your posts are so inspiring, I want to do work every time I read them. Which is fitting because that’s never going to happen again (the work). I could have felt the hair on my neck quiver as I sifted through the words, “However you felt yesterday, recognize today that we are now officially on the air. We are live. You will never be this young again.” Life changing. Simply, life changing.
Anyhow, I really want to point out a couple of key points from this post because it really changed my point of view – like most excellent posts do – and taught me a lot. Here are my six key points:
1. If you have a good idea, waiting is precisely the last thing you should do. You might ask how this is related with your post. Because you will never be this young again, you should take advantage of that time and apply those ideas into greater and newer things. I had some great ideas and this post is going to help me put them to action.
2. Live in the now. If your not living in the now, you are not living at all. It has just slipped my mind who said the quote “A man thinking about the past and worrying about the future is a slave to the present.” That man’s quote was a concise version of this post.
3. Appreciate your family. You might never have the same opportunity to love and appreciate those around you. Take time now to thank them for all they have done for you. It might sound a little cheesy in the now, but trust me, it’ll be worth it in the long run. Five years from now no one will care about those small mistakes, but your small moments of joy will stand out.
4. Build a legacy, not a history. Because of the cynical fact that everyone is going to be dead in a “good one hundred years” being the new hit thing doesn’t matter, but being your best self and being remembered by countless amounts of others will. For instance, just look at Crocs, just another a fad. But when you take a look at Microsoft, they’ve built enough brand equity to never go out of business. Build brand equity from a personal stand point.
5. What matters now, probably won’t matter in five years, let alone ten. Meaning precisely to forgive and forget as soon as possible because your enemies are soon to be your friends. A large quarrel now will likely result in happiness later. Your comrades in a year will be the ones you hated the one before. If you forgive, those enemies will likely become friends in no time.
6. Most of all this post taught me keep things in perspective. If things aren’t in perspective, they probably should be. Getting mad over a small detail is a waste of your time, and most likely breath too. Keeping things in perspective is the key to success is the long term answer to having a successful life.
I really felt I appreciate more after reading that passage. I feel like I want to spread happiness to everyone that I know. From there I feel like I want to be my best self. And I’m not exaggerating. It really was a top notch piece of writing. Probably one of the best posts on self-improvement I’ve ever read.
Dan Miranda’s last blog post..30 Reasons To Believe In Yourself
Thanks for reminding me that every moment of life is precious and unique.
“Every one of them, in a good hundred years, will be dead.”
I sometimes think of this when I look at old photos of Philadelphia. There is this book that shows old photos and current photos of Philadelphia from exactly the same perspective but 70 or 100 year apart. I realize most of the people in the old photos are dead. it’s a sobering thought.
Roger – A Content Life’s last blog post..Meditation for Beginners (Week 5) – Walking Meditation
Nothing Lasts.
This reminded me of Brad Pitt’s speech, in Troy, where he says the gods envy us because we are mortal. Each moment is special, and to be savored, because it may be our last.
Beautiful!
Lisis’s last blog post..What I Learned From A Stripper
Beautiful photo. I may be coming at this from the wrong perspective, but this post made me feel very sad. I guess there are a lot of people and relationships I’d like to hold onto. without losing them.
Dot’s last blog post..Creating a Household Notebook
Hi David,
Great minds think alike, David. My post on my blog today is on the same topic but from a different angle but the message is the same. Actually, Lisis said that my post is a companion post to yours. Anyway….nothing really matters except for the moment because life can change in an instant.
Nadia – Happy Lotus’s last blog post..When The Time Is Right
Profound thoughts beautifully expressed! It is such a pleasure to come and read your blogs – you GET IT! There are millions of people on this planet fretting, stressing, worrying, creating their own personal versions of hell on earth – makes me shudder. Life is simple and life is this moment. That’s it. You can see heaven, or you can see hell in this moment – the choice is yours – and you are right, it won’t ever be the same moment ever again. My dad used to kids around saying “Oh in a hundred years this won’t matter” trying to kid me out of a funk or problem when I was little. I never realized what a great philosopher the man was!
Thanks for this post. It’s like my soul went to a spa for the moment!
suzen’s last blog post..The Golden Halo Twins – Intention and Commitment
Such a great post and so beautifully written. You are so right — all we have is this moment and we will never again have it back again so it’s important to appreciate it. Have you read The Power of Now? You might like it. I found it pretty inspiring and interesting to think about. Sometimes when I think about how each moment is gone forever after it passes, I feel scared. It’s odd to think about it like that, that life is passing us by and there’s nothing at all we can do about it. But then I remind myself to let go, to live in the moment, to just be, and I find that I’m much happier when I focus on the now. Again, really great post!
Positively Present’s last blog post..hope springs internal
Dan — Hey, great summary Dan. I’m discovering that keeping things in perspective is the principle behind almost everything I do to be a happy person. I guess that means that existence is generally pretty awesome, the only problem is that we have a hard time recognizing it.
Roger — That’s the ultimate in perspective, to look at our lives in a greater timeline. We’re just flashes in the pan at that level, it’s a shame to waste any of it.
Lisis — Everything returns to dust, c’est la vie.
Dot — Sorry Dot, I didn’t mean to make you sad. We are impermanent and we can’t do anything about it, but to really comprehend that that is very liberating. To know everything as fleeting can really help a person release attachments and accept things as they are. When we feel like things (and people) are permanent, we are in danger of taking them for granted.
Nadia — Great minds! You’re totally right, the moment itself, and not its contents, is the only thing of absolute importance.
Suzen — Thanks Suzen. I feel like I get a lot of things I didn’t used to get, but it makes me realize there must be a lot out there I’m totally missing.
What a lovely compliment. Thank you so much.
Dani — Yes, I’ve read The Power of Now; Eckhart Tolle has been a huge influence on my perspective.
Yesterday I was in a terrible mood during my drive home, and I figured I didn’t have the clarity or patience to either write or do my workout. But I’ve learned to sit and look at a bad mood as just another feature in the moment, and go from there. So just sat in it for a while, did my workout anyway, wrote anyway, and felt great by the end of it.
David’s last blog post..This Will Never Happen Again
I think Suzen nailed it — you totally GET IT, David. Even the writing style you chose to use speaks to the simplicity of the message: Release and be present. The cameras are rolling. Get out of your head and into the moment. We’re live. Great post.
Brenda’s last blog post..Just Dance!
David – SO you’ve read Eckhart, well, it shows!!
As for you thinking there must be other things out there to get yet – ummmm, not so much!! (this statement not so much comes from an old crone) Life is simple.
Did you read A New Earth when Tolle talks about the painbodies? Fascinating and insightful. I found it so helpful to learn about how to deal with people who have created such prisons for themselves emotionally.
suzen’s last blog post..The Golden Halo Twins – Intention and Commitment
Awesome post, the day will never be repeated nor will the ups and downs. Its important we accept our negative feelings as well as our positives as they all play an important part in our lives. Without bad we couldn’t have the good times. Just let thoughts flow and be present, without grasping to thoughts we stop putting labels on things and use our minds the way they were supposed to be used…….
Chris’s last blog post..Stone Age Remedies For Feeling Down
Yet another excellent post which made me think, and I do love a good session of pondering! This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Life is not a dress rehearsal.
One can’t really appreciate how much they have in their life and how much they mean to other people until it is all taken away. How many times has each of us come with in a few inches of a cataclysmic tragedy and not even known it?
Everyday that you wake up is a day that will never happen again. Live your life and stop waiting for it to start.
with the way i’m feeling lately, the rawness of your post today has put things in perspective…thank you for the reminder…
Brenda — When I think of life as being live, it really jolts me into action.
Suzen — Yes I’ve read A New Earth a couple of times. One day I will do a post about painbodies.
Chris — Here’s a great song with this same message: Do You Realize??
Sean and khaleiyla — That’s right, it is all about perspective, and loss is one of the most effective ways of enforcing perspective. But it isn’t the only one.
Great post. I am reminded of one of my favourite poem by Walt Whitman, ‘Crossing Brooklyn Ferry’ which he wrote around 1900.
His voice addresses us across a century as though he speaks directly to us from the presenting past. So our voices, maybe through Blogs like these will speak to readers ‘ever so many hundred years hence’.
In contemplating those who have gone before I can appreciate the precious impermanence of the present. As they passed on so shall I.
Here are a couple of stanzas.
‘Others will enter the gates of the ferry, and cross from shore to shore;
Others will watch the run of the flood-tide;
Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east;
Others will see the islands large and small;
Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half an hour high;
A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them,
Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring in of the flood-tide, the falling back to the sea of the ebb-tide….
Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt;
Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd;
Just as you are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d;
Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood, yet was hurried;
Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships, and the thick-stem’d pipes of steamboats, I look’d.’
jeff’s last blog post..Presence
Profound stuff, David. I’ve read some accounts of the perspectives of enlightened beings and because of the very thought you describe here, even something like brushing their teeth is an exciting adventure. Imagine that!
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net’s last blog post..Love and Compassion Can Defeat Suffering And Depression
So easy to think things are permanent. Thanks for the reminders. Sieze the day, and have a fabulous weekend.
prayerthegate’s last blog post..Balance
Jeff — That was beautiful Jeff. You absolutely nailed it with that passage. I will have to read more of Walt Whitman, I’m always so impressed with his work.
Albert — Yes, and I’ve felt glimpses of that sense of adventure and bliss in mundane experiences. I’m convinced it is always there in every moment, behind the veil of thought.
Prayerthegate — You too!
Awareness of fleeting mortality only drives my desire to cultivate something special.
Nicole’s last blog post..Weight, Image and Losing it – Part 2
I’m late to this party, but I wanted to let you know how much I love this post. I have many times handed the present over to my memories and feelings. Although I’m far more aware of it these days, I still have that tendency on occasion. When now starts slipping through my fingers, I’ll read this again. Truly beautiful words.
Lori’s last blog post..You Are Nothing…and That’s a Good Thing
wow.
that was one of those “hah! that’s so true” moments. in the beginning i was like, “yeah yeah another spiel about everything changes” and then i read “no matter what is happening right now, it will never happen again” and i was like BAM! wrote it down on a piece of paper and stuck it on my shelf
one of the more power paths to presence i’ve found in a while.
really liked the way you put the “palette of wories…show is one night only”
This is it. – one of my favourite quotes.
really inspiring stuff.
all the best
alex – unleash reality
awesome!
Great stuff as usual, David. I forwarded this on to a friend. Thanks!
Nate @ ItStartsWith.Us’s last blog post..Who Do You Know? (Part II)
Thanks for this David. I think the scariest part, but the most liberating part, of the perspective you present here is that I am not the same person I was a minute ago, nor will I be the same person in the next minute. It’s totally arbitrary to say “the body sitting here a minute ago was Chris E., and the body a minute later will be Chris E. as well.” Realizing there is no person, no “I,” that has to be protected and has all these problems and so on sounds like the most freeing thing we could ever see.
To whom soever this belongs,
The God of this universe had designed us to be with Him and He did not want to change that plan of His.The first man and woman sinned against God and through them we all became sinners. From then onwards changes began to come into this world. As people started going away from the Lord , their Creator, naturally change has occured- because we were not designed to be far from him. The Holy Bible says in Romans 3:23, ” For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
in Romans 6:23 “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. We sinners need to have a change in our lives. God loves everybody including you and so even though we all are sinners He decided to take the initiative to help us understand that this change has come because of our sins.In John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”. Jesus Christ, the son of God had come into this world for this very purpose to stop this difference. Now God wants us to take the step to return to Him through Jesus Christ. But this is possible only when we simply put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and accept the sacrifice He made on our behalf on the cross. Every one who believes in the name of Jesus Christ from their heart and confesses with their mouth that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead will be saved and have eternal life with God and there will be no more change to that .In Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”. The word of God will never, never ever change and so is God and all those who belong to Him.
Truthfully speaking after going through this site and after reading ur friends comments, I felt as though all of you are either afraid of facing your past or afraid of accepting change in ur life. Everyday of ur life is meaningless without Jesus Christ. I belong to Jesus Christ and I can feel that He loves you all and wants to bring a change in your all lives. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 ” Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;the old has gone, the new has come!”.
There is a saying that there is only one life and it will soon be past and only what you do for Christ will last..
All of our past will be shown on the day of judgement- it will appear before you (all) and you (all) are accountable for that.
Get right now the only way to receive forgiveness for everybody’s sins…. Jesus Christ is waiting for you. In Revelation 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me”.
I would like to conclude by saying one more truthful fact–
For some, opportunities comes once only but some get a seccond or third chance. Sometimes opportunities may not be repeated. Ask the Lord for wisdom to understand what you need to do when you get an opportunity that He is giving you in this present day and life. Never say next time to the Lord because you donot know whether you will be lucky to get another one. So be wise…
When you offer thoughts that are yours alone, people will listen. Don’t be afraid to do that.
very sobering observation. Mortality seems to be what compels us to live or lives and seize the day. If the timer wasn’t counting down would you take any risks?
Great question Nemo. If we had infinite time there’d definitely be a decline in adrenaline sports