How many times do we feel that we are losing things, opportunities, friends, or our loves? If this happens, our ego takes over and we feel unhappy. And when we seem to have lost something, our ego takes over and makes us feel bad.
Life does not take things from you, it frees you from them
What is it like for a desire to disturb our peace of mind and how often do we suffer tragic mental torments for not possessing what we think we need?
Desire and attachment are the main factors that lead to unhappiness. The ones that make us feel as if we are constantly in need of someone or something to make us feel happy.
In our haste to reach a certain state, we miss the present moment, in which we are generally in good health, but we are not aware of it because we are too preoccupied with our present longing for something to make us happy.
Desire is the cause of this.
We stop enjoying things or people because of our need to have them around. Instead, we cling to what gives us momentary happiness and security and when we consider losing it, our life becomes unstable.
We take on things as our own
Sometimes, we adopt things – including people – as our own and when they leave, the attachment we have formed causes us great suffering. It is essential to keep in mind that we often confuse attachment and desire with love and affection, which can provoke debate.
Attachment and desire are indications of “I want this to be happy,” whereas love is a pure emotion that is not limited by thought and has no relation to circumstance, such as, “I love you and I want you to be happy,” regardless of the nature of your connection and the state of the connection.
It could be said that attachment is the ego’s equivalent of love.
Attachment and desire
Desire and attachment are the results of our misconception of life. We see things differently from how we perceive them.
Perhaps we can free ourselves from the reactive behavior that implies that our happiness depends on external events if we approach life from the perspective of the self and realize that, regardless of circumstances, we are always in charge of how we feel.
We do not need any external factors to feel good.
Our life is an ongoing learning process in which we encounter people, circumstances and lessons that are meant for our benefit (even if the experience is not pleasant).
When we perceive that life has taken something away from us, we tend to lose faith in the workings of the universe. However, life only presents us with new learning opportunities and, if we pay attention, we may be able to draw lessons from circumstances.
How do we detach ourselves from our desires and attachments?
We come to understand that we already possess everything we need to be happy.
Inherent divinity and that we are not our car, our engineering job, who we are married to, or any other aspect of our life that can be part of who we are. Happiness that lasts over time cannot be found in those things.
It is easy to identify our desires and attachments because they are everything that makes us feel anxious about having them. After all, we fear losing them or anxiously yearn for them. And once recognized, working on them is easier.
When we truly live in the moment and enjoy it, we stop worrying about what might happen in the future, celebrating our preferences without a feeling of dependency.
Valuing oneself
Self-love, self-knowledge, self-care and a positive self-image make it easier to love one’s own life and those around us without worrying about the future or longing for something to happen. We are liberated!
Aware that we are the only thing that exists outside of ourselves, that nothing and no one belongs to us, that those around us are also souls who learn through experience, just as we do and that material possessions are temporary and only serve to improve our lives.
Applying these principles will allow us to live in the present, to value our life without unnecessary complements and to progress towards true happiness free of dependence.
Avoid sacrificing your life for something that will be taken away from you
Trust in life; only when you have faith can you let go of your intellect and let go of your knowledge. When you have faith, a great door opens. Then, life is no longer as before; it is now abundantly filled with God.
You become one with the infinite when your heart is pure and all your barriers are gone. You also do not feel cheated because nothing can be taken away from you; therefore, there is no reason to fear that it will be taken away from you. There is no possibility of being taken away from you and you cannot lose your true treasure.
Osho
