Nothing Is Immutable

I was meditating recently and the lesson for the day was how to handle stress caused by change.

Everything changes; everyone experiences all kinds of change, so this seemed like a very relevant topic. But, the advice was to imagine yourself as a mountain – reliably steady and immutable. Except that mountains are like everything else – they change.

Some mountains are snowy and have avalanches. Some are volcanoes, constantly rumbling deep down inside and occasionally erupting very outwardly. Mountains have trees at their bases and only rocks and meadows as you climb higher. Mountains have mud, then flowers and always wind.

Many years ago, I was a ranger at Mount Rainier National Park. Mount Rainier isn’t static. Yes, it’s large and, when the clouds part, it’s always there looming over Seattle. But, it often spits mud. It can be wet and slippery one minute and dusty just a few days later. It’s not immutable.

The lesson here is that everything, yes, everything changes. Nothing stays the same forever. As humans, we very often must deal with sudden adjustments. Even mountains can experience abrupt changes, too. The key is to accept change. Fighting it is often futile. You aren’t static. You can change. It’s not easy to change, but it’s the only way to fully embrace life in all its vicissitudes.