Impermanence – state of change; not lasting forever; not permanent.

One of the essential doctrines of existence in Buddhism, it asserts that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is “transient, evanescent, inconstant.”  This has been a consistent theme in my meditation practice (currently on a 48-day streak and have increased the frequency to 2x a day) lately that has paralleled what’s been going on in my life recently.  You might think, oh he found a girlfriend – I wish.  Most of the change since my last post is related to my current job situation.  I’ve been with my current company for a little over a year and a half now which is probably a year and a half too long.  I took the position because I was let go at my previous company and knew someone that was going to join the company so I trusted him.  Little did we both know what we were getting ourselves into.  Things were fine in the beginning, revenue was up, we were hiring and it was a laid back environment.

The environment since the start of the New Year, however, has drastically shifted.  Numbers are down, people were let go and the biggest change of all, the leadership or lack thereof from upper management.  Long story short, my immediate supervisor is everything I hope not to be as a leader and more so as a person. I had a confrontation with him in front of my coworkers earlier in the year because he was drunk (at work) and being a complete a-hole/douche.  If I could go back in time, I would have started updating my resume that day or ask that they just let me go.  Last week, it all came to a head when my boss was sent home after lunch because he was incoherently drunk.  I know I’m going to look back on this experience and laugh but at this moment, right now, it’s not funny.  The picture for this post couldn’t sum up the situation any better.  After some contemplation, I finally told myself enough is enough and started updating my resume and reaching out to old coworkers/colleagues.  My mantra for this job search is ‘we change our behavior when the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of changing.’  I’m definitely a creature of habit/routine and the thought of change scares me because of the unknown.  It’s something I’m constantly working on and accepting life is impermanent and constantly changing.

Another change that’s happened since my last post is 2 of my closest friends are now engaged! I believe they are readers/subscribers so if you got this far guys, congrats!! I could not be happier for you two and your fiancés are very lucky girls.  Although we don’t hang out as much as we used to in the past, I consider both of them the type of friends where you can go years without talking or seeing each other and pick up right where you left off as though nothing changed.  Did I say 2 friends, another high school friend just recently got engaged over the holiday weekend, the trifecta!

Getting back to the subject of this post, I wanted to share some of the script from the Calm ‘impermanence’ meditation that inspired this post.

See if you can observe emotion without identifying with it so that you notice whatever comes up but realize it’s just a passing emotion and all emotion comes and goes.  It’s not you it’s a temporary experience, this moment, see it just like the breath. 

The way to live in the present is to remember that this too shall pass.  When you experience joy remembering that this too shall pass will help you savor the here and now.  When you experience pain and sorrow, remembering that this too shall pass reminds you that grief like joy is only temporary.

So if you’re struggling with anything in your life whether it’s work, relationships, finances just remember that you’ve gone through tough times before and made it through to the other side.  If things are going well and running on all cylinders, make sure you take a second to take it all in and enjoy it for what it is right now, in this moment.

QOTP: “It is not impermanence that makes us suffer.  What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.” –Thich Nhat Hanh