This Too Shall Pass

I slept in a bit this morning, and then quietly donned sweats and bundled up, and headed down to the river with my coffee. I had not been there in months!

It was very cold for me - the temperature hovering in the low twenties - and ice clung to the riverbanks, as the rushing river passed on by.

I said my prayers, chanted the Reiki precepts and poured out my heart to God...

I've felt a little unsettled of late in my life, and after a while, feeling chilled to the bone, I retreated to my car, parked in front of the boat ramp where I launched my kayak regularly for years.

I sat, I meditated and I watched the river - the waves briskly moving downstream. And then, I simply heard within me:

"This too, shall pass."

All of the things that most consume our thoughts - our pain, our sadness, our regrets  and our hurts - our very lives - they will all pass. But only love will remain...

I reflected on a number of things weighing deep in my heart - some of which I have shared with a few - some of which I have not - and in that moment - I saw everything lifting and floating away down river. I somehow saw a life that was very different, knowing that this moment would also pass.

There was something very freeing in that exercise of dwelling upon a score of different circumstances, and knowing that they would all eventually pass.

I thought of what I had accomplished thus far in my life - and what I still wanted to do in the time remaining - knowing all would not perhaps turn out the way I envisioned - but that it would also pass...

I thought of what would remain: the times I loved, the times I reached out, the times I tried my best - even when it seemed it wasn't good enough - and most of all - what would also remain is the intent behind it all - the striving to do better, to care, and to make a difference.

"This too, shall pass.

There is nothing that cannot be overcome. For love, endures forever. Nothing else matters.