impermanence
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ~ Albert Einstein
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A USCG licensed captain named Tom told me he had sailed many vessels over the years and still taught lessons in the summer, starting each session with “sailing is long periods of doing absolutely nothing punctuated by brief moments of sheer terror”.
We look at this and see the dark side of sailing. There is another story that comes to mind from Captain Hawk. He told me of sailing his boat out to sea when a hurricane was approaching to “save his boat”. He believed his boat had a better chance on the water than at the dock. I cannot recall why he thought that or if others tried to advise him against it, but his harrowing story was enough to give me second thought.
All looks calm and safe, even with the forecasted storm bearing down off in the distance. He is sailing with a good westerly wind and feeling secure, hoping to “out run” the eye and return to port when things settled down. Just hours later, he realized he had not left soon enough or gotten far enough. His boat could not withstand the wind or waves. It started breaking up and before he could commandeer his life raft he was tossed overboard unceremoniously. He didn’t even have a life jacket on. How? Why? His story was so intense, I could not interrupt it to find out. He told me this personal tale to emphasize how it changed him. He wanted to explain in some ways how facing death made him who he was today.
Recognizing our impermanence, defined as “not permanent” and described with transitoriness, evanescence, fleetingness, fugitiveness, momentariness, temporariness, transience……helps us embrace and experience the miracle of life.
Back to our story. What happened to our captain who “went down with his ship?” He was alone, out on the Atlantic Ocean, with no one to call to help and no time to get a distress call completed to shore? Literally, there was not another soul ( since he tends to be a self made man who has few close companions) who knew his location or that he was in trouble. Even if they had, there was no way to reach him in the storm without sacrificing their own safety and he wouldn’t ask that of anyone.
He told me he struggled, swallowed water, fought for his life, tired and resolved to die. Then, a strange thing happened. Once he was resigned to his fate, his body told him what to do. He stopped thinking and let his body take over. He relaxed and let the waves wash him as they wished. He was 12 hours in the ocean before he washed ashore beaten and bruised but still ALIVE. Gone were his days of invincibility. Gone were some of his own long held beliefs. Gone……..like the wind. Gone. His home, all of his belongings, everything but what was left of the clothes on his back. He was humbled and regretful. He was kicking himself for his choice. But, he was also thankful to be alive and physically,no worse for the experience.
How long did it take to overcome this setback? Several years. Did he? Yes
The Bible speaks of the “fleetingness of life”.
Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. Psalm 144:4
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:11
What lasts? What is permanent? What is our impact?
Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day. Dalia Lama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q6csQ762yw&feature=related
“Live and Die” by the Avett Brothers with their new album Carpenter