Bubbles always burst

The highs of life are moments that don’t endure forever. They can give us pleasant memories to sustain us through the more difficult times, but most of our daily life is lived in the realms of the ordinary.

Some other metaphors

When we were at Karijini National Park in the Pilbara in Western Australia we attended a service conducted by Judy, a pastor from Frontier Services. She talked about how the rivers here flow underground under sand, but emerge in a few places of exquisite beauty (which, I further reflected, have been fashioned by the forces of erosion).

She went on to say that the life-force of these places is still ever present flowing under the desert sand and this is what is sustaining, rather than the areas of spectacular environment, which we only visit briefly.  Although she likened this to our spiritual lives, in that most of the time we are walking through desert, I think that this applies to life in general.

A second metaphor she used was the Spinifex Ant, who discards the husks from the seeds and leaves them in piles at the entrance to the nest, taking only the useful parts of the seeds down into the nest. This too can be applied to our lives if we spend more time feeding it with meaningful and sustainable things instead of seeking the froth and bubble of life.

Highs can become ordinary

When highs become part of usual experiences they may no longer be highs. We may no longer take in beautiful/ spectacular environments with a sense of “oh wow” feelings when we see them all the time (or, in some cases, even for the second time). It is the same with life experiences of highs, and when they are over we are often left with a sense of being let down, and then try to seek more, only to have this repeat over and over. This does not bring us lasting happiness.

Trying to make bubbles last longer

Adding artificial substances like glycerine can prolong the life of bubbles, but they still eventually burst. Some people try to artificially prolong, or induce, life bubbles through the use of drugs, only to find that this does not make them last forever either.

Remember: Just as the highs don’t last forever, neither do the lows.