How often have you wished for a moment to last forever? I bet you only do so when you are in the midst of joy and happiness, desperately clinging to fleeting bliss, knowing deep down that it will come to an end sometime. Yet, when darkness descends, you forget that even the most profound despair is transient, and that better times will come again.
While we always want to cling to the good things that happen in our lives – our successes, holidays, relationships – we usually forget that the bad times do not last forever either. How many times have you gotten your heart broken, paralyzed by the thought that you will never find love again? Been fired, thinking your career is over? Or faced financial hardship, left in despair by the thought of never getting out of it again? The truth is that nothing, absolutely nothing, lasts forever: not the good times, but also not the bad times.
Life itself is a testament to this inevitability, with each passing moment making way for the next, repeating the endless cycle of birth, growth, and eventual decline. It has to be that way so that the old can make way for the new and the world can keep evolving as it has for billions of years.
The same is true for our corporate world: people join and leave, success and failure come and go, and entire companies that once dominated their industries fade into obscurity. Once again, it has to be that way so that we as individuals, as well as society, can adapt to an ever-changing environment. Just think of brands like Kodak, Blockbuster, or Blackberry – once giants in their fields, now cautionary tales of what happens when you fail to evolve. Or celebrities like Macaulay Culkin, Mischa Barton, or Vanilla Ice – once household names, now reminders of how fleeting fame can be in a world that constantly moves on.
So here is my advice: whenever you are experiencing a high, enjoy it and ride the wave for as long as you can, for it will not last forever. And when you are going through hardship, remember that this too shall pass and that even the darkest night will always give way to a new dawn.
And do not forget: the higher you fly, the deeper you can fall. Embrace the highs with gratitude and the lows with resilience. Both are temporary, and both are essential parts of the human experience.
