Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
by Robert Frost

What a beautiful poem. It's not very long but it encapsuales so much. Change is inevitable in life and if the framework that we live within is not flexible enough to change with the times, then we can expect a life of resistance.
One of the things I find rigid in life is judgement because if you are going to jusdge someone, then you must come from a standpoint which is unwavering, a counterpoint. If you can see the other persons point of view then it becomes difficult to judge, then we enter a discussion. If we surround ourselves with people who have the same opinions and beliefs as us, how can we grow?
A flexible outlook on life also manifests itself in our Limbic System and so too in the longevity of life. With grief, our brain tries to match the model of how life should be with the event and so our sorrow comes from the mismatch and from the flood of chemicals to our brain which causes the emotional outflow in the first stages of grief. If we choose to let this dominance of emotion control our lives then we never fully recover to lead full and health lives. I strongly suggest the Chapter on Handling Disappointment from Dr. Kerry Spackman's "The Winner's Bible". It's a great read.
In my own life right now, there is a lot of change. In my business and in my personal life. In business, people I thought would stay the course have left and I've seen relationships change. Yet I know that these things are just swirling wind around me as I walk toward my goal. The constant in this scenario is me and always will be in my life. And so I bend but don't break although I know I will be tested, it will take a very strong force that will break me if I'm flexible.
So I think once you embrace the last quatrain of this peom you may find yourself enjoying life more, appreciating transience more and appreciating the time you spend more.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.