“NOTHING is permanent.”
We hear these words so often that we sometimes forget to take them seriously. We know they are true, yet we live as though we have all the time in the world.
Until one day, there isn't.
One day, we discover that we are sick. Perhaps the illness has been developing in our bodies for years. We failed to notice the warning signs, or we chose to ignore them. We were too busy earning a living, raising a family, or building a career.
Then the savings we worked so hard begin to disappear. Hospital bills pile up. Our strength weakens. And the people we thought would always be there may no longer be as available as we hoped.
Not necessarily because they no longer love us, but because they, too, have lives to live, responsibilities to fulfill, and families to care for.
And just like that, we realize how fragile our sense of security can be.
This is why taking care of ourselves is not selfish. It is necessary. We must learn to protect our health, save for the future, nurture relationships, and guard our peace while we still can.
One day, we grow old.
Growing old is not the tragedy. Growing old without preparing for it is what makes the journey harder.
We must learn to build a life that we can still enjoy when our careers end, our children leave home, and our bodies no longer cooperate with us as they once did.
One day, we will no longer be able to do everything we used to do. And when that day comes, we should still have something to look forward to.
And just like that, the things we once thought would last forever begin to change.
Even our professions are not spared.
Technology continues to advance. Artificial intelligence can now generate stories, music, images, videos, and films. Information about health, law, education, and almost every imaginable subject is available on our screens.
Writers, teachers, artists, actors, singers, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals are being challenged to rethink how they work and what makes their contributions valuable.
This does not mean that human beings will no longer matter. But it does mean that the world of work is changing, and we cannot afford to remain complacent.
And just like that, the world changes.
People change. Priorities change. The things we once considered impossible become ordinary.
So, where do we find something steady in a world that never stops moving?
I keep returning to three essentials that have been passed from generation to generation: faith, hope, and love.
These are not guarantees that life will spare us from pain. Faith does not prevent every hardship. Hope does not erase every fear. Love does not keep everyone with us forever.
But they give us something to hold on to when everything else begins to slip away.
Faith reminds us that we are not always in control, and that there is strength in surrendering what we cannot understand to the Almighty. It gives us the courage to keep believing even when the answers do not come when we want them to.
Hope allows us to begin again. It tells us that a difficult season is not necessarily the end of our story. Hope gives us a reason to take another step.
And love, perhaps the most essential of all, reminds us of what it means to be human.
It is the love we give ourselves when we finally choose to rest. The love we show our families while we still have time together. The love we extend to friends who are struggling. The love we offer through our work.
Faith, hope, and love do not remain untouched by change, either. Our faith may be tested. Our hope may weaken. Our capacity to love may be wounded by disappointment.
But we can return to them. We can rebuild our faith, find hope again, and learn to love without allowing past pain to close our hearts.
And just like that, we have to continue to live.