Nothing is Permanent

Charlie Chaplin said: “Nothing is permanent in this world – not even your troubles.”

We need to appreciate the fact that nothing in this world is permanent. Life is a constant change. Nothing is truly under our control, though humans are trying to control everything. And we try to hold onto things like fame, money, and happiness, and avoid any changes in our circumstances. But Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, wisely said: “There is nothing permanent except change.” Seasons change, technology changes, we change as we age.

Some get so stressed by change, especially when problems arise, that they may even attempt suicide. They forget that nothing is permanent. When faced with problems, a submitter understands they are gifts from God to help make us stronger and more appreciative. Sometimes we need to break the pace of our headlong run for success to find whether we are heading in the correct direction or not. Therefore, God gives a little tug to break our pace by way of creating obstructions.

That way, if we have   drifted away from the right path, we get a chance to mend our ways, an opportunity to appreciate and thank God.

God’s system is phenomenal. We consistently experience change in nature. There is nothing constant, everything keeps on changing—weather, climate, time, health, life etc. These changes take place for a specific reason. Whether we like it or not, it is necessary for living in this world. Therefore, willingly or unwillingly, we need to accept it. If we plant a small sapling today it becomes a huge tree over time. We might not be there to taste its fruits at that time, but it will be beneficial to somebody. Water changes into different forms according to the effects of external factors, solid to liquid to gas. Is this not amazing to observe and praise God? We need oxygen to breathe which is provided to us by the trees. We need water which is provided to us by rainy season. But, for rainy season God created hot summer season without which we would not get water. We must appreciate this change and praise God for it.

Sometimes change hurts us a lot due to our emotional attachment to a certain person or thing. Our immense attachment makes us vulnerable to pain with its absence. We forget the natural phenomenon of change and thus refuse to accept it. We should not get too attached to a person, object or any pleasure in our life. A friend of mine shared a motivational thought with me, “The life in front of you is way more important than the life behind you”. We need to understand the fact of life and accept the change. One more saying says, “If it costs you your peace, it’s too expensive”. Emotional attachment should not become the cause of our grief.

The ever-changing situations give us both a reason to rejoice and a reason to lament. In times of joy and success when we’re surrounded with good things, we need to be appreciative. In times of distress, we need to remember the good times and know that things will soon change for the better, as long as we hold fast to God.

A famous proverb says that a person can never enter the same river twice.

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