The year is ending, a perfect time to look back—and therefore a fitting time for a challenge for you…
Find 1 photo with many relatives and family members from many generations, including older people…
Look closely at every line on each person's face; look into their eyes…
Do you feel anything?
Can you feel their entire lives contained within those lines? All their memories, everything that will belong to a stream flowing through generations… that you will inherit and always carry within you. That stream always lives in you, and you always live in it…
What emotions do you feel?
Now comes the real challenge.
Look at that picture year after year, and find how everyone in it can live forever, remain eternally beside you, and never have to leave. Year after year, they are still present.
The truth is that you will never win this challenge. You will realize that a time comes when 1 person you love deeply and thought would remain forever must leave life's train, leaving you alone and adrift in this world.You will realize it is not only 1 person, but 2, then a 3rd… That day will come.
The photo that once held everyone will be missing 1 person, then 2, then more…
It is simply that they are no longer present in this life. You can no longer see them in a living body moving, talking, laughing, eating, and drinking. You cannot. You can no longer hear their voice directly, ask their advice, or talk with them. You can no longer do anything for them or receive anything they do for you.
Because that is the inevitable law of this life: birth, aging, illness, death, and impermanence.
Impermanence means nothing exists forever; everything changes and transforms continually, without stopping, without beginning or end.
And so you know what you need to do. Understanding impermanence does not make life feel meaningless or drain your motivation. Instead, you cherish life even more, want to live more fully in every moment, and observe, attend to, and receive every moment and every sign that comes your way.
Until you experience the truth about death, about before and after, about your face before you were born, about what is truly immortal and enduring, and about the eternal love always within you. You will understand that all those loved ones have never left; they always live within you, in the blood flowing through you and in every breath you draw from this planet’s air.
And that is when you have truly overcome this challenge. In just 2 years, 3 beloved members of my family and extended family have passed away. Some photographs now lack those cherished people. This morning's visit to tend their graves was deeply moving.
Our grandparents and ancestors always wish for their descendants to live happily and prosperously. We can maintain our connection to our roots and family ancestors, allowing the flow of prosperity to continue through us. With the energy of gratitude, we receive blessings of goodness and abundance from the wise, benevolent energy of our family, ancestors and roots. A good, peaceful and prosperous new year 
TMT.
