Tuesday, May 02, 2006

The Beauty of Loss

by Skald

Ours is an age of acquisition. GETTING is the religion of our time... ever grasping, ever clutching for more more more.

Its a sickness. A rotting mental disease. A disease that infects in a thousand ways, with a millions symptoms.

By contrast, loss is abhored in our culture. We deny not only death, but aging. We are terrified of losing our money, our property.

More to the point, we are terrified of losing our strength, our dignity, our respect.

Most of all, we are terrified of losing control.

And yet.

Loss has beauty. Loss is the birthspring of compassion. Loss is our first, best teacher. Loss teaches us that all is impermanent,.. that ultimately, we control absolutely nothing.

If we are sensitive, and careful, loss teaches us the incomparable lesson of letting go. Of pain. Of wealth. Of all we thought we knew, believed, wanted.

This is the inevitable path we must all follow.

There is no escape.

Only surrender.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thought this might be of interest to you:

The Futile Pursuit of Happiness
By JON GERTNER
Published: September 7, 2003

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DEFD61538F934A3575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=health&pagewanted=all