The January 5th entry in A Year With Rilke talks about our impermanence. He says it seems to be hidden from us.

I’ve recently been reading a small book on philosophy, death and the afterlife, which also speaks about how we tend to believe we will live forever, even in the face of evidence that we are not immortal.

On the one hand, I know that sooner or later we all die. On the other, I, like many of us, tend to live my life as if I had all the time in the world, so I often waste it on unimportant things (watching mindless reality shows or playing computer games), and on worry about things I cannot change. (Aging, for one, disability for another.)

Jan. 5, 2014

How much time between
now and then?

Old Clocks (Photo credit: servus)

Before I can write the words
future becomes past,

now as elusive as dreams,
tomorrow never quite arrives.

–CAS

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Today’s selection from A Year with Rilke is about recognizing how much we have and how much we have had even though we may have little at the present moment.

It isn’t always easy for me to give thanks at a time when I am feeling ill or sad or when I think about those who are no longer here.

It’s been extremely cold this week in the Ottawa area. Yesterday’s minus 22 felt like minus 38 with the wind chill.

My car creaked like an old bucket of bolts going over speed bumps. I am not often grateful in winter that I live in such a climate. I think I’d have chosen Arizona or Mexico…

For today, my small stone is a reminder to myself about the effects the weather has on my attitude.

 Jan. 4, 2014

This morning minus 20.
Outside the wind
whispers colder.

Listen to the hum of furnace!
Be thankful for its dry warmth.
Remember summer when we cried

for Mother Nature to turn down
the heat? Summon gratitude
as you pay your next heating bill.

–CAS