Last thursday I had the honor of witnessing the passing of someone very dear to me. Last thursday my mother passed and I able to witness it. I was there to watch her pass, to watch her take her last breath. An extraordinary woman who gave birth to me, who watched me take my first breath, I was given the honor of watching her take her last. For someone that I never imagined would pass, she did.
One of the things that I again became present to is the notion of impermanence. As Dan Milman once wrote in The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, everything changes, nothing stays the same. We sometimes believe and act as if we will live forever. We do not really get that change is the only constant, that we too will change physically and eventually pass. We enhance the power of our being by getting that life is fragile and that we need to live it from the notion that our life will eventually go out of existence, that we too will pass.
When we live life from the perspective of impermanence we act and behave differently. For me it is about being of service, of creating for the benefit of others, to do for others in order to enhance their life. I know that I too will eventually pass. Until then my life will be about service to others.
