This too shall pass.

I remember reading this phrase somewhere, and it struck a chord with me. I don’t remember where I read it, but I do remember an accompanying anecdote.

A man stood on a bridge looking down at the river. He’d recently faced a streak of adversity and was feeling quite disheartened. The sight of the flowing water calmed him, and it occurred to him that the water kept moving steadily and relentlessly.

I think life is like that too. Even when it seems as though nothing is changing, actually everything is slowly changing. Time goes on, without pause, like a flowing river. What were you doing last year at this time? How much has your life changed from last year, or the year before that?

Sometimes the river runs over a patch of bothersome pebbles and sometimes it flows freely and gracefully on its way. No one’s life is awesome all the time, and no one has adversity all the time. Sometimes, you may have a longer than expected run of misfortune, but it won’t last forever.

When faced with those moments of misfortune, I close my eyes and tell myself: This too shall pass.