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Credit: DH Illustration
Almost all of life’s happiness comes down to just a few moments, and fleeting moments at that. They instantaneously materialize and just as quickly they vanish. We thus experience happiness as a string of gratifying moments which come and go like clouds, uncertain and fleeting. Through patience, dedication and rumination, we can bring together these moments to find meaning in what we do and make happiness less fleeting.
My husband is an avid gardener and come rain or shine he spends a lot of time planting, cultivating and nurturing plants. Sometimes just looking at his laborious tending to his plants exhausts me. He however, is not perturbed and continues to work on his garden with sincere dedication.
At one point he planted gladiolus bulbs in our backyard and continued to attend to them even though for a very long time the bulbs remained hidden in the soft folds of the ground.
Just as spring gave way to summer, the gladioli plants tenderly emerged and eventually the flowers bloomed in the most vibrant and beautiful colours imaginable. We all were entranced by their beauty, however, their allure faded in the strong rays of the sun and soon they wilted and shrivelled up.
Although I was a little disappointed by the transience of it all, I began to see that my husband’s effort was not in vain.
Life gives us only fleeting moments and the joy is in working towards those moments, as it is in those ephemeral moments that we are able to see the fruition and actualization of our labour.
To believe and work towards something with your whole heart is to celebrate a fleeting moment in time, to fully engage in a life that doesn’t come with any promises.
Life is fragile and fleeting, and it’s over before we know it. We just have to grab and live in the moments it offers us to make our life meaningful and sublime. Yes, it takes patience and vulnerability and faith and resolve, however recognizing and leaning into the discomfort of transience and vulnerability teaches us to live with joy, gratitude and grace. It is the transitoriness in everything we love and experience that creates a sense of the sacred in our lives.