Never assume good things will last forever
People take things for granted, especially the good things. They prefer to sit idling around (besides playing Facebook or watching Youtube) and get their monthly salary, than to improve themselves or look for other jobs which they can learn more. They prefer to stay in one place comfortably and assume that this comfortable place will be there for them forever.
But little do they know that nothing last forever in this world, including the good and nice things that they are enjoying now.
For example, one of my sister’s friend has been working for this small company for 10 years. He’s one of the founders, and his job is basically leading the subordinates. When asked about his future plans, he would reply “I’ve been working here for 10 years now, where else can I go? I guess I’ll just receive my monthly salary in this comfortable place until my retirement”. 6 months after he said that line, he was retrenched.
Another example, a story I’ve read from a book. There was this pretty lady who was looking for a rich husband and few years ago, she finally got her wish fulfilled. Her husband was a business owner and earned 5 figures salary every month. All she has to do was to go shopping (her kids were sent to the childcare centers). But thing took a drastic change one day, her husband got a stroke and was paralyzed. It was a big blow and a life changing incident for her. After all, she has been relying on her husband (and her husband only) all these years. But she has no choice. She has to take over the business without any business knowledge, and tried to survive by doing everything by herself. Fortunately, her husband’s condition improved few years later and she is now faring a lot better than before. It was a big change, but she took up the challenge bravely.
I believe many of you might have heard of stories such as the 2 above especially after the recession hit in 2008 and 2009 – former CEO driving a cab, a 50-year-old house wife of a former millionaire begging for a job which only pays 2k per month, a CEO who thought his products were so great that he refused to improvise and believed clients would still flock over to buy the products for many years to come…only to have his business closed down a year later due to lack of sales, etc.
The thing is, incidents like this do happen quite often in our world. Well, even if you try to live on a hill for 10 years, things around you will still change even if you don’t. The serenity and peacefulness of the forest area surrounding the hill that you once enjoyed could’ve been gone, replaced by…erm….. a motor way… a highway…or maybe a nuclear test site. 
Maybe that is why the motivational gurus or career and business experts always tell people not to get too comfortable with the things they have now. I know it’s good to appreciate what you have. In fact, that is what I’ve been telling people to do. However, being appreciative and grateful are not the same as being too comfortable. If you think that every good thing will remain as they are now few years down the road, then perhaps it’s time to change your mindset. And in this case, being stubborn certainly does not help. 
And don’t you worry too much. Good things can still be there forever, if you are willing to make the efforts to retain them. Improve yourselves, work harder and smarter, etc. That is what I’m going to do to keep the good things I have now, and I believe everyone should do the same too.
P/S …. Actually, this assumption that “good things will last foever” has been one of the main factors behind the fall of some of mankind’s greatest empires. Many leaders of the past always thought that their empire would remain the strongest in years to come WITHOUT any improvement. History has proved them wrong. Ahem, I think I’ve watched too much Discovery channel.
Actually the best things in life can last forever. It’s just that people tend to be complacent when good things happen to and around them. When that happens, all the effort that goes into maintaining those good things are forgotten.
As the world changes, so too do good things end with the event that created them. Whether it be relationships, a job, a life. You need the same amount of hard work to keep them there, if not more. Most people aren’t willing to put that kind of effort in because it cumulatively gets more over time. No surprise why there is often no good in life.
It’s true that the best things in life do not last for ever. We tend to take things for granted sometimes.
On a different note, its never good to assume anything. Why? Because when someone assume it make an “ass out of u and me
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If we define permanence as something bounded by our own lifespans, then yes there is permanence. A leashold property with 99 years on it, a spouse that stays with us till one of us passes or a job that’ll keep us till retirement is perceived as permanent as far as our lives are are concerned.
From the perspective of science tho, the 2nd law of thermodynamics, particularly the part about entropy, pretty much obliterates any notion of permanence. This is observable in general relativity theory altho I’m not not sure about quantum physics but I suspect so.
Physics and experiential life moments are not all that far detached in my opinion because physics is the basis of all that we experience. Its just that our depth of perception is more finite than the actual workings of the universe so we measure permanence based on what we can see. I guess thats good enough for me.
@ Edrei
Sometimes, things just don’t go your way even if you want it to. The death of a loved one, for example. 1 of my dad’s friends made a lot of efforts to stay healthy (family and himself) but his wife passed away due to cancer. He did his best but it just wasn’t meant to be.
I understand that there are things which are within our control and we can always try our best to maintain them… but by trying our best doesn’t guarantee success.
If things work well after all those hard work, then good. Else, don’t sweat about it. People come and go, and same goes for good things – they come and go as well. One good thing which is gone now, might give space for another one to come.
@ LihtiumMind
Some people do take things for granted. I often tell them to “appreciate whatever you have and if you really want to keep it, then work for it”. Just because something comes easily, doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way.
@ Damien
You…are from Engineering background? LOL. Your comment seems to be alien language to me – quantum physics…thermodynamics?
But yeah, permanence is something which we (human beings) define as per our context. Maybe A is really permanent when it comes to the actual thing (how the world perceives it), but not permanent for us. Er…nvm, hahaha, I think i better stop before I confuse myself further.
I’m no engineer.
I know those terms through my study in astronomy back in college, and thru the study of Buddhist impermanence. In my opinion it fits well into the model that modern physics presents to us and its far easier to envision impermanence as a mathematical construct than emotional. For me anyway. Dead boring stuff I can assure you. 
@ Damien
Hmm I’m a Buddhist who don really study Buddhism =_=
I’m interested in Astronomy but after so many years, the only line I know is “Oh, that’s Orion’s belt”
Mmm, quite interested in human psychology though. Not sure if I got time to read about it.