Attachments

We worry about things in life. It's real, it happens. Unavoidable and universal. Some people back themselves into corners, painfully aware of the limitations impressed upon them. Too much focus on this can keep them trapped in a bad place in their mind. What we tend to forget is that when someone puts a gun to your head, you don't HAVE to do what they say, there's 148 other options you can choose. Duck out of the way, grab the gun, throw sand in their eyes, call their bluff and see if they'll actually shoot you, etc... You always have a choice. It's the same problem when we succumb to the fallacy of blaming the whole world, when we are solely responsible; you just aren't looking at the problem from the right perspective. Society is not out to get us. Everyone doesn't hate me, and my job isn't trying to ruin my life. The fact is, no one made you get a job - especially not that one. No one made you decide to live the typical American lifestyle of excess, or even forced you to want to live in a house. People have gotten by for thousands of years before most of the technology that we have today. The world hasn't changed, we have. Our stress doesn't come from our boss, bills, or our stuff - it comes from us. Take these problems to their core, and when you see them in their purest form, you will notice that the objects disappear, and the subject shifts. The core conflict of these things, you see, arises from our desire for, or attachment to something. Therefore, lose the attachment, lose the stress.

Say you grow weary because you don't make enough money to pay your bills: You have a good job, but aren't always treated the way you feel you deserve to be. Every day you make the commute, because the job isn't close by. This means that you will go through cars faster than some, and spend more on gas. Both of these mean you have less money to pay the bills that you already can't afford. You try to make payments when you can, but the collection calls never stop, and you're falling behind. Nevermind that we all buy things we don't need, and spend more than we can afford because "I just want to have nice things" or "I can always make more money" or "Well, I want this, so I'm going to buy it." These are easy ways to delude oneself, but ultimately harmful to one's peace of mind - unless of course you can afford these things, and you truly have no need to worry because you have considerable means at your disposal. Barring that... if we look deeply enough at these sources of stress, we may see that being able to pay the bills isn't the problem - 'NEEDING' all this stuff is. Our attachments to what we want, have gained, or believe we deserve, can literally be the lens through which we view our own personal hell, superimposed over an already subjective reality.

There's something to be said for just "giving up".

When I say "giving up" I don't mean shutting down and letting the world crush you, because you simply don't want to bear another second. Instead, I mean to fight, but in a different way than you might be used to. Step one: Get over yourself. No one "deserves" anything. We all come from the same dirt, anyone who claims to be born of gold, is a liar. I know a song that goes, "the only guarantee in life, is a life worth dying for". Life itself is a gift, to expect anything more to be given is to expect to much. Be humble. Step two: Figure out what's truly important to you. If you really are so shallow, that having all sorts of material crap is what's most important to you, then perhaps consider doing some soul-searching. Step three: A person needs to be able to see that life is a continuous experience, and some pursuits are endless. The other thing one needs to understand is that life is about reaching goals. Some goals cannot or will not ever be finished, but are noble intents just the same. Though goals are important, they are not paramount, because it's never about the end of a task, it's about the journey. Step four: Let go of the rope. Why are you holding on so tightly, afraid that you might fall, when you're only a few inches above the ground? Stop trying to control everything, and just let go. Dare to be great, and have the courage to fail. Face every challenge as it comes, and recognize that falling on your face isn't the worst thing that can happen - not having the gumption to try, is however. Once you believe - not just know(there is a difference between knowing and believing) that life is a continuous experience, you know what's truly important to you, and you understand that the journey is more important than the end, then you have nothing to fear. Every day, strive for what's meaningful to you, and let it not matter if you fail. Cut out whatever is unhealthy and anything that you use to work against yourself. Let nothing keep you from reaching your goals. Accept that you may fail in life, but resolve not to stop trying regardless. Realize that what you have valued for a lifetime, might end up being meaningless to you. This doesn't mean that you have wasted time though, as long as you have learned even one thing from it. Let go of the past, along with your attachments. Don't forget, but do not burden oneself with things that cannot be changed. If we are lucky, then perhaps we will at least have some pretty pictures to look at along the way.

Prologue:
Endings are only the mark of a new beginning. Once we give up our attachments, then we must find new ways to view the world and to live. Let me suggest a way... Love. Compassion. Kindness. If we find new attachments, then let them be found in goodness and love. Let our attachment, if any, be to all things in this existence. Any weakness can be made into a strength if we embrace it as such. Embrace all things, attached or not, for all things are interconnected anyways.