Nothing on this good earth lasts forever, but by virtue of people's everyday actions, you wouldn't believe that many people actually adhere to this wise philosophy. Instead, far too many people are obsessed with staying young forever, or if not that, staying physically alive forever, or holding onto things which are transient but believing that they are not. The mindset of taking objects that are impermanent and basing your life around believing that they are permanent with perhaps a basic understanding that they change but their essence stays essentially the same, is the type of deception which fools yourself to your own particular perdition.
What people should pay far more attention to is that there is indeed a circle of physical life, which applies to all, great, or small, and human beings are not immune to this law. This means, that the physical death that visited your grandmother or other significant relatives, will one day visit you, in its time or even before its time, and the granddaughter or other significant births which have been part of your life, will continue now and far beyond your actual time on earth.
Further to the point, this means, that all of us, just as Shakespeare wrote, will, unless our life is terminated through an untimely event, pass through the seven ages of man, and thereby none of us can escape this destiny, so that those we look up to, schools that we go to, parents that we love, friends that we appreciate, jobs that we loath, tolerate, or love, will come and they will go. This means that our physical life is impermanent, and the things, all of the things that make up this good earth, are themselves impermanent, even if it appears that they are stable or secure but indeed they will fail or eventually will fall to the sands of time, no matter how distant this may seem.
All of the above serves to point out the very important and fundamental thing which is that when we cling to those things which of their nature cannot endure forever, we are grasping onto straws of which none of them can stop the inevitable that must happen. This would signify very strongly, that our efforts should be directed not to those things that are impermanent, or if so, certainly not to the exclusivity of just impermanent things, but should instead be directed to those things which are eternal. This means that when we look into the mirror, we must fight the feeling, fight the impression, and fight the viewpoint, that the physical is us, always has been us, and always will be us. Instead, although at first it will be difficult, we must see ourselves for what we really are, which are spiritual beings temporarily encased within physical bodies and if we believe that this is true our behavior must, for a certainty, change.
Once one recognizes who they really are, their outlook on life will change, because now they will perceive earth as a proving or testing ground, as contrasted to something pointless, or meant for sense pleasure, or as some sort of rat race. Therefore, there will be that recognition that the things that live forever are the fruit of the spirit, “….love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control….” (Galatians 5:22-23). These attributes transcend the physical plane, they are eternal, because each of these are in harmony with our Creator, so that the more that we are those things in our actions and in our thoughts, the closer we are to returning to the source of all wisdom, all enlightenment, and where it all first began.