This Too Shall Pass: A Reminder That All Good Things Come To An End

Credit: Ryan Parker

Sitting here as I reflect on a lot of the “good” things in life that came to an end. From friendships, to relationships, to parting ways with an old beloved car, leaving a job after having worked there for many years, or maybe leaving a place you once called home and moving to a new place. 

For those of us who have ever been through something like that - something that was good, effectively coming to an end. We know that the feeling is often bittersweet. It’s sad to say goodbye. Not just to the thing, the car, the job, or the place. It’s all the memories attached to it. The firsts, the places where inside jokes took place, the house where you and your friends used to congregate. 

It is sad to say goodbye to all of those things. At the times those things happened, there would be a lot of sadness. Eventually the sadness goes away, and we find new ways to make life good. 

After another “good” thing came to an end though, today, I noticed that my reaction is different this time around. I felt the same bittersweetness, but it felt way less sad.

I thought a lot about other good things that have come to an end, more recently, in the last months. In the last years, or decades of my life even. There were a lot of great things that did eventually come to an end. It’s almost cyclical. 

We usually hear “This too shall pass,” as a sympathetic offering of support when someone is going through something tough. A promise that pain is temporary, and that it will eventually get better. 

What we don’t always consider is that the same truth applies to the good times too. If we are often waiting, and just waiting for the time to pass, to get past the rough times and get to the “good,” are we possibly wishing away the good times at the same time? 

If the good and the bad are going to pass anyway, why rush either one? 

Someone asked me the other day if I was counting down the days until my son would be out of diapers. And I answered honestly - no. I wouldn’t wish this time away for anything. He will never be this small again. I can accept that he is going to grow up and not be a little baby anymore. I am not in a rush to get to that point however.

So for now, I am going to accept all of that comes with it, diapers and all. Because whether good, or bad, this too shall pass.