Beauty That Doesn't Last

My boys,

October is beautiful because it refuses to stay.

The trees spend months becoming green.

Then, for a few weeks, they become extraordinary.

Gold.

Amber.

Red.

Copper.

And just when you begin paying attention...

they let it all go.

There is a temptation to protect beautiful things from ending.

Take the photograph.

Save the flower.

Keep the children little.

Ask the evening to last longer.

Return to the place exactly as it was.

But preservation is not the same as appreciation.

Sometimes trying too hard to keep a moment prevents you from actually being inside it.

I have done that.

Thinking about remembering while I should have been living.

Photographing something I barely looked at with my own eyes.

Worrying about an ending while the thing itself was still happening.

There are experiences God gives us that were never meant to become permanent.

A sunset.

A season.

A meal around a table.

A child's small hand.

A conversation that lasts until everyone else has gone home.

A tree completely on fire with October color.

Their ending does not reduce their value.

It may be part of their value.

You boys will grow.

I cannot stop that.

And I should not want to.

There will be a last time I carry each of you.

I probably will not know it is the last time.

One day I will simply put you down...

and never pick you up that way again.

That thought hurts.

It also makes me want to be more awake when I still can.

Impermanence can make a man bitter.

Or attentive.

Choose attentive.

When something beautiful arrives, do not immediately ask how to keep it.

Receive it.

Look closely.

Thank God.

Love it completely.

Then, when its season finishes, let it finish.

The leaf does not become less beautiful because it reaches the ground.

And love does not become foolish because something could not stay.

Some things are worth loving precisely because they won't.

I love you.

— Baba

Question:

What beautiful thing are you afraid to love fully because you already know you cannot keep it?

Moral:

Impermanence does not make beauty meaningless. It teaches us to pay attention, give thanks, and love what God places before us without demanding that it remain forever.

This story reflects real experiences and philosophies behind Backyard Brew. It is shared to inspire perspective and intention.

Author: R. Solace