Often as we move through life we try to cling to permanence even though the experience of countless generations tells each and every one of us in each moment that there is nothing that is permanent.
Parents die, children die, lovers, husbands, wives, friends and beloved pets die, ideas and thoughts die, plants, trees, even the planet and our sun will one day die, change form and appear to be something different to what we have been accustomed to.
So what is it that is always permanent? What remains? Love remains.
You may instantly disagree with that statement and say ‘I used to love this person once but now I feel only anger or disdain for them’. That is true, often we can have the experience that love has gone away, however, when we dig a little deeper, and often the depth is just wafer thin, we come across that which never went away but was simply covered or disguised with feelings and thoughts that are not permanent, even when those feelings do last for a long time. What is permanent is the presence of love we have for others and ourselves.
Long after a relationship has ended we can feel the love we once felt intensely for someone and long after a beloved has left us through death, we can feel the love we have for them when we allow it to flow.
That which is permanent is love, it never goes away. Yes, it can become disguised, hidden, denied, deluged with other feelings, but in essence it always remains. Difficulties arise when we try to suppress such feelings of love. We tell ourselves that it is somehow wrong to feel or have love for those with whom we are no longer in intimate relationship as it may damage our current relationship. In truth, it is the exact opposite that causes problems. When we suppress and deny any of the love we have for anyone or anything then all love becomes suppressed. As we allow that which is permanent anyway, that which never goes away, and can never go away, to be present, love flourishes. As love flourishes it becomes the one permanent feature of the ever changing landscape of our lives.
With love, John