This too shall pass
I’m not ready for autumn. I’m still clinging onto the last glimpses of the summer sun. The last few moments of the golden sunshine streaming through the trees, the feeling of warmth on my face and my toes. I’m still holding on for one more sunny day. One more chance to sit outside, one more day to explore.But autumn is inevitable. The trees are already turning and if I keep my eyes closed waiting for that last bit of summer, I’ll miss it. I’ll miss the magic of the new season. The promise of a fresh start and the opportunities that a new wind can blow through your life, twisting and shaking uplifting and clearing, making space for the new. Starting new chapters, telling new stories.The reason why I don’t want this summer to end is because I’ve been waiting for it for 2 years. Patient and intolerant, I’ve been waiting for this new opportunity to start. But the summer has gone already. Over in a flash. Change is inevitable. Time moves quickly and slowly but it never stops. I’ve learnt recently that as much as we want the bad to pass, or as much as we want the good to speed it up. It will all pass eventually. The good and the bad. Whatever we feel about it.
“This too shall pass”.
Whenever I’ve used this phrase before, it’s been a complete beacon of hope and a tower of strength. The moments of struggle and pain, they will pass. ‘Hold on because nothing will last forever’. Yet I’ve had the terrifying realisation that it also means ‘this too shall pass’ for all the beautiful and the wonderful, all the good.We have to enjoy the snipers of happiness; we have to seize that day and breathe in the joy of the good times because they too will pass. Like the dips of a rollercoaster the peaks and troths of life pass through us in waves and at times we are so eager for things to move quickly; the winter, the week, waiting for Friday, waiting for summer that we then start to rush past all the good.We miss the morning sun rising over the winter mist, we miss the warmth of Christmas as we are rushing into the new year. We are waiting for a holiday, so weekends just seem to get in the way of our trip, and we miss the subtle relief of a day off.We’re missing it. We’re missing our life.I don’t want my life to pass without noticing it. Noticing every last bit. I don’t want the good to pass without being thankful or to make it through the storm of the bad and not realise how strong it’s made us.
So how do we do it? How can we notice our life?
I’ve learnt the quickest way to slow downtime is to write about it. Time seems to creep to a halt as your mind rushes to know what to write, to know how to fill an empty page. It’s beautiful. Because time will pass, whether we like it or not, so let’s remember it all. Or you could slow downtime by making the most of everyday adventures and living a big life. The stories of our lives are passing us as we race through to the next chapter. Good or bad, it will pass.
Some of the best ‘good times’ for me, have been travelling. Explore new places and seeing the world as if for the first time, these adventures are easy to forget when we return home. Sign up to my newsletter today for a free travel reflection guide, helping you slow downtime when you return from your trip! Find out more next week!