Suzanne Askham

Wellbeing notes: This too shall pass

A London friend, Vivien, was strolling around Avebury with me. She adored the ancient, mysterious stone circle. I love it too. But on this particular day I had a busy schedule. In the north-west quadrant, it all became too much. “There’s so little time,” I fretted. 

Vivien laughed. “Look around. There’s literally no one here but us. You’ll get to your appointment, but worrying won’t help, I promise you.” 

I looked around properly then, at the stones that measure time in unfathomable ways. And I realised that my worries were as fleeting as a breeze compared with Avebury.

Understanding that our woes are transient is a well-established principle in meditation, both in stillness and in action. An example: I like to exercise on a rowing machine, finding that its rhythm can become quite meditative. As imaginary oars slide through the water, and an imaginary boat scoots forward, the distance covered is displayed on the screen before me. At times the metres look like years rushing by. The 1970s turn into the 1980s and so on, through the millenia until we reach the year 5,000, aka 5km, when I generally stop. 

What will the world look like in the years 3025 and 4025? What will our descendants be like? Perhaps they will view us, with our paperback books, rather as we view the faraway papyrus generations. One thing doesn’t really change: our ability to feel all the emotions. Hence that comforting expression in hard times: ‘This too shall pass’.