Man Springs Up Like a Flower and Flees Like a Shadow
A mortal, born of woman, is of few days and full of trouble; springing up like a flower, then withering, fleeing like a shadow that does not stay.
Am I letting this short season of blooming slip away entirely, worried about what comes next?
📝Reflection
Job likens the human to a flower and a shadow. The flower blooms beautifully but soon withers; the shadow falls for a moment and vanishes without a sound. Though a lament from the thick of suffering, this image is a startlingly universal song of impermanence. The Buddha too said all forms are like "a dream, dew, lightning." Yet the fact that a flower withers does not diminish its beauty. Rather, knowing it will soon fall, the flower now in bloom is the more radiant. Awareness that life is short as a shadow is no despair but an invitation to bloom fully in this season. Because it is short, it is beautiful; because it falls, the now is precious.
🌱Apply It Today
When worry about "next" rises today, turn your gaze to: "In this season now, as what am I blooming?"
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
