Word Warrior Wednesday: “This too, shall pass”

I have decided to do Word Warrior Wednesdays- I will post quotes, poems and little stories that have helped me through dark times, that cheer me on and that hopefully may be helpful to others too!

Today is a famous one- “This too shall pass”

King Solomon instructed one of his ministers to find a ring that could turn a happy person sad, and a sad person happy. King Solomon thought it was a ruse that would confound his best minister. However, the minister was inspired. When he came to a goldsmith and inquired of this ring, he was told that he had come to the right place. The goldsmith inscribed on the ring three Hebrew letters: gimmel, zayin, yud. These letters stood for the words, “Gam zeh ya’avor,” This too shall pass. The minister returned to King Solomon, and presented him with the ring. Smiling at the thought of winning the challenge, King Solomon took one look at the ring and lost his smile. Thus, he learned that even his wisdom and great wealth were but fleeting things.

This is one version of the story. In another version that I read, a nameless king is given an envelope and told only to read it in moments of sorrow and joy. Shortly after, the kingdom is invaded. He goes to open the envelope and reads the words “This too, shall pass.” The words give him hope and they manage to build a  truce. When his daughter marries and he is overjoyed, he reads the words again, and begins to understand that happiness and sorrow are part of life. Here the story calls for a certain kind of stoicism to go through life.

I am not a stoic, by no means, but to me the story is also about patience. “This too shall pass” can sound like a tired chorus, when you have been battling the same health issue for months. And still, it will pass.  With every flare, with every procedure, with every extended toilet session (lol),  I tell myself, “this too shall pass.” Knowing that “this too shall pass”, I also make a point of enjoying my life and living it to the fullest, when I am not in a flare.