Think about Attachments

     The concept of attachment; normally, as human beings we're psychologically attached to a large number of constructs, such as hopes and ambitions for the future, beliefs and ideas about the world, knowledge, status and achievements. At the same time, there are more tangible attachments such as our possessions, our appearance and our jobs or roles. All of these attachments support our sense of identity like scaffolding. They are the building blocks of our sense of ‘I'. We feel that we are ‘someone' because we have hopes, beliefs, a job, or because we're successful and attractive, and so on.

     We think we need these attachments to feel happy, but paradoxically, letting go of them can bring - at least for some people - a deeper kind of well-being. Letting go makes us aware that the attachments actually clutter up our minds, and overburden us with demands. We feel a sense of clarity and openness, now that our ‘identity scaffolding' has dissolved away. There's a new sense of energy too, since our mental energy is no longer consumed by maintaining the attachments.

     But even more importantly, psychological attachments seem to obscure a deeper, more authentic part of ourselves. This ‘core' of our being doesn't need external happiness, because somehow it exists in a natural state of fullness and contentment (Steve Taylor). In other words look inwards for the happiness, at any level, that you are trying to achieve.