"This Too Shall Pass"

My mantra of the last year:

"This too shall pass."

The good. The bad. The unsettling. The joyous. The wonderful and the horrible. It all passes. I have experienced a year filled with so many ups and downs, pains and joys. In the midst of the hard times, I repeat "this too shall pass." It keeps me from getting boggled down in that particular hard moment. It keeps me from absolutely freaking out about being unemployed. It keeps me remembering that life is spent living, breathing and feeling in one minute into the next.

I've also started reminding myself in the good, joyous moments as well: "this too shall pass." Because it will. It always does. But for the first time in my life, I'm able to truly recognize and understand the Buddhist nature behind knowing that the good will pass too. For the first time, I'm working on not trying to hold onto it. I'm learning to be in that moment, to breathe it in for all its worth and to recognize that it's not going to be the same thing when I exhale.

My dad suggested the other day that I find a more active mantra instead of one that indicates that I have no hold on the world (he's a huge believer in what positive thinking can do). And to some extent, I'm at a point where I agree with him. I've started thinking about what more active mantra/thought I want to be sending out to the world. What is it that I want? What is it that I want to attract to myself? What is it that I want to share with the Universe?

At the same time, however, I'm going to hang on to this mantra. Because even if, with my new mantra, I am able to attract that better, more active energy, even if I can figure out what I want and even if I receive it, it too shall pass.

It always has.
It always will.

And I'm content with that.