Live Like You Were Dying

            The Buddha taught that everything is impermanent. Impermanence is more than an idea. It is a practice to help us touch reality. “Flowers decompose, but knowing this does not prevent us from loving flowers. In fact, we are able to love them more because we know how to treasure them while they are still alive” (131). By understanding impermanence, we can become more confident and experience more peace and joy. It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. “What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not” (132). We all avoid making important decisions in fear of what the outcome might be. We are afraid of something going wrong and hurting us however, our decisions are temporary. We make many decisions all the time, every day. Of course we will make mistakes. Mistakes help us grow and learn as individuals. Without impermanence we could not take chances and make mistakes.

            I am a creature of habit and do not like change at all and I am sure many people would agree with me. I remember when the new iOS update came out for the iPhone a couple months ago. I saw that the majority of the iPhone was going to change and I was afraid to update to the new software. I can deal with small changes every so often, but I live for my iPhone and use it for everything. I did not want to have to get acclimated to every little change again. After a couple days, I started to realize that it was inevitable and that I could not avoid it forever and I had to eventually update. When I finally updated, it took a little time to get adjusted to all the new features and changes however, I saw how it started to benefit my life. I needed to stop thinking that everything was permanent and that things have to change to be able to improve.

Hannah, my sister, & me

Another example of how impermanence relates to my life is death. About a year and a half ago my sister’s best friend passed away unexpectedly. Hannah was only fifteen years old at the time with her entire life still ahead of her. She was also our neighbor and my sister and I grew up with her since we were born. She was like another little sister to me and always knew how to brighten everyone’s day around her. She was our little sunshine. When I found out about her death, I was shocked. I could not believe or accept the fact that this happened to Hannah. I guess I just never imagined anyone close to me dying and especially at such a young age. That day I learned that you cannot take anything for granted, especially life. Life is not permanent and death is inevitable, it happens to everyone whether we want it to or not. I never wanted to think about death or the people around me that I love dying. However, I realized that if I accepted this fact of life and that the people in my life as well as myself are going to grow older and die, I can live a more fulfilling life and learn to treasure every valuable moment I have and live my life to the best of my ability. You have to live every day like it is your last by taking chances and not just playing it safe.

Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching. New York: Broadway, 1999. Print.