How long does a moment last?
Is a birthday just 24 hours, or is
it also the minutes of anticipation
watching the clock tick to twelve?
Is winning a basketball game the instance
of the ball striking the net, or also the cheers
of the crowd that comes after?
Is breaking a cup the shatter and scatter of glass in the kitchen,
or also the wide-eyed, slow-motion drop to the floor
and rush to get the broom before anyone finds out?
It's hard to tell.
But, there is one thing these moments have in common:
they come to an end.
Presents run out.
Basketball seasons have "last games."
Floors get swept clean.
Impermanence drives our highs and lows:
bleak, early winter sunsets transform into golden 9 pm's
with sand-sprinkled breezes, then back to bleak again.
It is cyclical.
No bad moment will last forever, and neither will any good one.
Don't ride the feeling of winning a basketball game so high
that anything else less will make you come crashing down.
Don't let ends of birthdays make you dig a hole so deep light can't peek through.
But it doesn't mean we should ignore or mitigate everything bad that happens.
Appreciate your ability to feel sad or disappointed, then learn how to deal with it—grow.
