How to let go of attachment
The Zen Habits Guide to Letting Go of Attachments
By Leo Babauta
I’ve been finding more and more that the Buddha had it right: pretty much all of our struggles, from frustrations to anxiety, from anger to sadness, from grief to worry, all stem from the same thing …
The struggles come from being too tightly attached to something.
When we’re worried, we are tightly attached to how we want things to be, rather than relaxing into accepting whatever might happen when we put forth our best effort. When we’re frustrated with someone, it’s because we’re attached to how we want them to be, rather than accepting them as the wonderful flawed human they are. When we procrastinate, we are attached to things being easy and comfortable (like distractions) rather than accepting that to do something important, we have to push into discomfort. And so on.
OK, if you’re ready to accept that being too attached, clinging too tightly, is the cause of our struggles … then the answer is simple, right? Just loosen the attachments. Just let go.
Easier said than done. Any of us who have tried to let go of attachments knows that it’s not so easy in practice. When our minds are clinging tightly, we don’t want to let go. We really, really want things our way.
So what’s the answer, then? In this short guide, we’ll look at a few practices to help with this.
Letting Go Practices
We can help dissolve these attachments with a few different practices:
- Meditation. Meditation is simply sitting still and trying to pay attention to the present moment — whether that’s your breath, your body, or what’s around you right now. What you’ll find is that your mind runs away from the present moment, attaching to worries about the future, planning, remembering things in the past. In meditation, you practice letting go of these mini attachments, by noticing what your mind is doing and letting go, returning to the present moment. This happens again and again, and so you get good at it.
It’s like muscle memory after doing it hundreds, thousands of times. You learn that whatever you were attached to is simply a story, a narrative, a dream. It’s not so heavy, just a bit of cloud that can be blown away by a breeze. - Compassion. In this meditation, you wish for an end to your suffering, or an end to the suffering of others. What happens is that this wish transforms you from being stuck in your attachment, to finding a warm heart to melt the attachment and find a way to ease it. You become bigger than your story, when you wish for your own suffering to end. And when you wish for others’ suffering to end, you connect yourself to them, see that your suffering is the same as theirs, understand that you’re in this together. What happens is that your attachments and story become less important, not such a big deal, as you connect with others in this way.
- Interdependence. Try meditating not only on the wish for the suffering of others (and yourself) to end, but for others to be happy.
All others, whether you like them or not. Again, through doing this, you start to see that you’re all connected in your suffering, and in your desire to be happy. You are not so separate from them. You’re not separate, but interdependence. This connection with others helps you to be less attached and more at ease with life. - Accepting. At the heart of things, attachment is about not wanting things to be the way they are. You want something different. That’s because there’s something about the present moment, about the person in front of you, about yourself, that you don’t like. By meditating, practicing compassion and interdependence, you can start to trust that things are OK just as they are. They might not be “ideal,” but they are just fine. Beautiful even. And you start to become more aware of your continual rejection of the present moment, and open up to the actuality of this moment instead. Over and over, this is the practice, opening and investigating the moment with curiosity, accepting it as it is.
- Expansiveness. All of these practices result in a more expansive mind, that is not so narrowly focused on its little story of how things should be, not so focused on its small desires and aversions, but can see those as part of a bigger picture. The mind can hold these little desires, and much more. It’s a wide open space, like a deep blue ocean or dreamy blue sky, and the little attachments are just a part of it, but it can also see the suffering of others and their attachments, it can see the present moment in all its flawed glorious beauty, and be present with all of this at once. Practice this expansiveness right now.
The Zen Habits Method
The way to deal with attachments isn’t simple, and it takes practice.
Meditate daily, focusing on the breath for a couple of minutes every morning. See your suffering and your story and attachments, as you meditate. See this after meditation as well.
After a few weeks, add compassion meditation.
Wish for your suffering to end, then expand it to others in your life, then to all living beings.
Learn to see your interconnectedness with others, and practice acceptance of the present moment exactly as it is, in little doses. Small steps. Practice expanding your mind to include these things and all other things in the present moment.
Then, when a difficult attachment arises in your daily life, see the suffering, see the attachment, and expand your mind beyond it, giving yourself compassion while seeing that you are bigger than this attachment. Let it be there like a little cloud, floating around in the wide expanse of your mind, and then lightly let it float away, rather than sinking yourself into it.
With practice, this method can result in contentment with the present, awesome relationships, and less procrastination and distraction.
Mindfulness for Beginner’s ebook
If you’d like help with mindfulness, check out my new Zen Habits Beginner’s Guide to Mindfulness short ebook.
Letting Go of Attachment: From A to Zen
“Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama
If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we want to feel happy; and on the other side of that coin, we want to avoid hurting. Yet we consistently put ourselves in situations that set us up for pain.
We pin our happiness to people, circumstances, and things and hold onto them for dear life. We stress about the possibility of losing them when something seems amiss. Then we often get stuck in grief when something changes—a lay off, a breakup, or a transfer.
We attach to feelings as if they define us, and ironically, not just positive ones. If you’ve wallowed in regret or disappointment for years, it can seem safe and even comforting to suffer.
In trying to hold on to what’s familiar, we limit our ability to experience joy in the present. A moment can’t possibly radiate fully when you’re suffocating it in fear.
When you stop trying to grasp, own, and control the world around you, you give it the freedom to fulfill you without the power to destroy you. That’s why letting go is so important— letting go is letting happiness in.
It’s no simple undertaking to let go of attachment—not a one-time decision, like pulling off a band-aid. Instead, it’s a day-to-day, moment-to-moment commitment that involves changing the way you experience and interact with everything you instinctively want to grasp.
The best approach is to start simple, at the beginning, and work your way to Zen.
Experiencing Without Attachment
Accept the moment for what it is.
Don’t try to turn it into yesterday; that moment’s gone. Don’t plot about how you can make the moment last forever. Just seep into the moment and enjoy it, because it will eventually pass. Nothing is permanent. Fighting that reality will only cause you pain.
Believe now is enough.
It’s true—tomorrow may not look the same as today, no matter how much you try to control it.
A relationship might end. You might have to move. You’ll deal with those moments when they come. All you need right now is to appreciate and enjoy what you have. It’s enough.
Call yourself out.
Learn what it looks like to grasp at people, things, or circumstances so you can redirect your thoughts when they veer toward attachment—when you dwell on keeping, controlling, manipulating, or losing something instead of simply experiencing it.
Define yourself in fluid terms.
We are all constantly evolving and growing. Define yourself in terms that can withstand change. Defining yourself by possessions, roles, and relationships breeds attachment, because loss entails losing not just what you have, but also who you are.
Enjoy now fully.
No matter how much time you have in an experience or with someone you love, it will never feel like enough. So don’t think about it in terms of quantity; aim for quality instead. Attach to the idea of living well from moment to moment.
That’s an attachment that can do you no harm.
Letting Go of Attachment to People
Friend yourself.
It will be harder to let people go when necessary if you depend on them for your sense of worth. Believe you’re worthy whether someone else tells you or not. This way, you relate to people, not just how they make you feel about yourself.
Go it alone sometimes.
Take time to foster your own interests, ones that nothing and no one can take away. Don’t let them hinge on anyone or anything other than your values and passion.
Hold lightly.
This one isn’t just about releasing attachments; it’s also about maintaining healthy relationships. Contrary to romantic notions, you are not someone’s other half. You’re separate and whole. You can still hold someone to close to your heart; just remember, if you squeeze too tightly, you’ll both be suffocated.
Interact with lots of people.
If you limit yourself to one or two relationships, they will seem like your lifelines.
Everyone needs people, and there are billions on the planet. Stay open to new connections. Accept the possibility your future involves a lot of love whether you cling to a select few people or not.
Justify less.
I can’t let him go—I’ll be miserable without him. I’d die if I lost her—she’s all that I have. These thoughts reinforce beliefs that are not fact, even if they feel like it. The only way to let go and feel less pain is to believe you’re strong enough to carry on if and when things change.
Letting Go of Attachment to the Past
Know you can’t change the past.
Even if you think about over and over again. Even if you punish yourself. Even if you refuse to accept it. It’s done. The only way to relieve your pain about what happened is to give yourself relief. No one and nothing else can create peace in your head for you.
Love instead of fearing.
When you hold onto the past, it often has to do with fear—fear you messed up your chance at happiness, or fear you’ll never know such happiness again.
Focus on what you love and you’ll create happiness instead of worrying about it.
Make now count.
Instead of thinking of what you did or didn’t do, the type of person you were or weren’t, do something worthwhile now. Be someone worthwhile now. Take a class. Join a group. Help someone who needs it. Make today so full and meaningful there’s no room to dwell on yesterday.
Narrate calmly.
How we experience the world is largely a result of how we internalize it. Instead of telling yourself dramatic stories about the past—how hurt you were or how hard it was—challenge your emotions and focus on lessons learned. That’s all you really need from yesterday.
Open your mind.
We often cling to things, situations, or people because we’re comfortable with them. We know how they’ll make us feel, whether it’s happy or safe. Consider that new things, situations, and people may affect you the same. The only way to find out is to let go of what’s come and gone.
Letting Go of Attachment to Outcomes
Practice letting things be.
That doesn’t mean you can’t actively work to create a different tomorrow. It just means you make peace with the moment as it is, without worrying that something’s wrong with you or your life, and then operate from a place of acceptance.
Question your attachment.
If you’re attached to a specific outcome—a dream job or the perfect relationship—you may be indulging an illusion about some day when everything will be lined up for happiness. No moment will ever be worthier of your joy than now because that’s all there ever is.
Release the need to know.
Life entails uncertainty, no matter how strong your intention. Obsessing about tomorrow wastes your life because there will always be a tomorrow on the horizon. There are no guarantees about how it will play out. Just know it hinges on how well you live today.
Serve your purpose now.
You don’t need to have x-amount of money in the bank to live a meaningful life right now. Figure out what matters to you, and fill pockets of time indulging it.
Audition for community theater. Volunteer with animals. Whatever you love, do it. Don’t wait—do it now.
Teach others.
It’s human nature to hope for things in the future. Even the most enlightened people fall into the habit from time to time. Remind yourself to stay open to possibilities by sharing the idea with other people. Blog about it. Talk about it. Tweet about it. Opening up helps keep you open.
Letting Go of Attachment to Feelings
Understand that pain is unavoidable.
No matter how well you do everything on this list, or on your own short list for peace, you will lose things that matter and feel some level of pain. But it doesn’t have to be as bad as you think. As the saying goes, pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
Vocalize your feelings.
Feel them, acknowledge them, express them, and then let them naturally transform. Even if you want to dwell in anger, sadness, or frustration—especially if you feel like dwelling—save yourself the pain and commit to working through them.
Write it down.
Then toss it out. You won’t always have the opportunity to express your feelings to the people who inspired them. That doesn’t mean you need to swallow them. Write in a journal. Write a letter and burn it. Anything that helps you let go.
Xie Xie.
It means thank you in Chinese. Fully embrace your happy moments—love with abandon; be so passionate it’s contagious. If a darker moment follows, remember: It will teach you something, and soon enough you’ll be in another happy moment to appreciate. Everything is cyclical.
Yield to peace.
The ultimate desire is to feel happy and peaceful. Even if you think you want to stay angry, what you really want is to be at peace with what happened or will happen. It takes a conscious choice. Make it.
Zen your now.
Experience, appreciate, enjoy, and let go to welcome another experience.
It won’t always be easy. Sometimes you’ll feel compelled to attach yourself physically and mentally to people and ideas—as if it gives you some sense of control or security.
You may even strongly believe you’ll be happy if you struggle to hold onto what you have. That’s okay. It’s human nature.
Just know you have the power to choose from moment to moment how you experience things you enjoy: with a sense of ownership, anxiety, and fear, or with a sense of freedom, peace, and love.
The most important question: What do you choose right now?
Jumping for joy image via Shutterstock
About Lori Deschene
Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She’s also the author of Tiny Buddha’s Gratitude Journal, Tiny Buddha's Worry Journal, and Tiny Buddha's Inner Strength Journal and co-founder of Recreate Your Life Story, an online course that helps you let go of the past and live a life you love. For daily wisdom, join the Tiny Buddha list here. You can also follow Tiny Buddha on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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Sincere congratulations on your birthday in your own words - Relationships
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Source: PozdravOk.com
A selection of short birthday greetings Suitable for both men and women of almost any age.
All congratulations are written in a clear and memorable language that you can repeat in your own words, slightly modifying the text for the birthday man.
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Joyful festive day, fulfillment of desires, health and prosperity!
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Realization of all plans!
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And there will be everything that is required for this - health, longevity, support from family, friends and like-minded people.
Joy and happiness!
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I wish you the most important thing in life - health. May you be loved and appreciated in the family, may there be demand and complete self-realization in your work, may happiness and joy live in your heart.
Happy Birthday!
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And luck always and in everything pursues you.
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Happy birthday! I wish you to always live in joy, surrounded by tranquility and constant happiness, I wish you everything and a little, and let the simplest days sometimes be filled with fabulous events.
On your birthday, I would like to wish that there are always more happy and joyful minutes in your life, that your heart is filled with joy from warm and affectionate words, and that true friends are nearby!
Source: www.chitalnya.ru
How to let go of a person if relationships do not bring joy
Parting with loved ones is always hard. Psychologists of family centers who are ready to help people overcome various periods of crisis tell how to survive a traumatic situation. By contacting the specialists at My Family Center, you will receive comprehensive psychological assistance - individual or family consultations, you will be able to participate in group interactive classes in order to see the situation from a different angle in a supportive environment and get a resource to overcome life's difficulties.
Difficulties of parting
Entering into a relationship, a person consciously or unconsciously seeks to fulfill his basic need for love.
But the understanding of love is very different for everyone, our expectations are not always justified and coincide with the vision of a partner.
“When the feeling of dissatisfaction becomes constant, and there is less and less joy from relationships, then it makes sense to think about whether these relationships have a future and whether they are worth saving. Of course, everything here is very individual, and before making a decision, it is important to be honest with yourself and your partner. Most often it happens that in the depths of the soul the decision has already matured, but there is not enough psychological strength to implement it. A person still hopes for something, is in captivity of self-deception, is afraid of the future, or is not ready to take responsibility for his life ", - says psychologist of the Family Center East Degunino Svetlana Timchenko .
The main difficulty in parting lies in the emotional attachment to the partner, and it is sometimes much stronger than the arguments of reason.
Sometimes, after physically breaking up, people cannot psychologically “pick up” themselves from the relationship. This may take years.
“The fact is that our ego often plays tricks on us. Even at the stage of falling in love, when everything is fine, it automatically, unconsciously tries to appropriate not only the joy from the relationship, but also the person who gives it to us. And then, when natural developmental difficulties arise in a couple and our expectations from a partner are not met, there is a feeling of disappointment, loss. The main pain arises not even from the partner’s actions and his “non-ideal”, but from the collapse of our illusion of expectations from him” , the psychologist notes.
What is relationship for us
We invest in relationships mentally, psychologically, physically and financially, and also spend precious time on another person. This is akin to an investment, and we unconsciously expect to receive dividends in the future in the form of stability, security, loyalty.
The partner seems to owe us, and if this does not happen, and he does not pay the bills, then the ego feels robbed.
Two paths to a healthy relationship crisis
- If a couple has the potential to develop, through open dialogue, partners will be able to clarify their goals, shared values and decide to continue to stay together.
- If the inevitability of parting is obvious, then experiencing the pain of loss, letting go of a person and taking yourself out of a relationship is possible only by changing your perception and ceasing to look at relationships from the position of obligations.
How to do it?
Step 1 . First of all, accept and live all the gamut of feelings that will inevitably cover you, since the acceptance of a new reality will require considerable mental strength and time. Here, a healthy supportive environment (close people, psychological support groups, individual psychological consultations) will help you.
Allow yourself to accept help from others, because how you live through the trauma will depend on your emotional state in future relationships.
Step 2 . After the first wave of feelings, believe and admit the idea that there is still a lot of interesting and pleasant things ahead in life. Your ability to experience happiness should not depend on anyone, no one is responsible for how much you can extract positive emotions from various events.
Step 3 . Turn towards personal interests, remember if you forgot what you used to love, what attracted attention and what gave you positive emotions. Each of us has a huge potential and extraordinary abilities. Maybe it's time to realize an old dream? We live in a time when a lot is possible. As an internal support, you can choose for yourself the image of some hero who is close to you, who would serve as a motivating force.
If you can't immediately find your bearings in the area of interest, then just switch.
Let variety into your life, try different things :
- Sports, any physical activity will help release the energy of tension. The body is our very grateful friend.
- Creativity will fill you with positive energy and inspiration, develop your imagination, switch from destructive thoughts.
- You might think about changing the look or updating the interior.
It is important to work with your self-esteem, it often falls when parting, since devaluation is a common behavioral strategy between former partners.
Try to communicate more with positive people who prove by personal example that there is happiness, learn from them the ability to overcome difficulties and find reasons for joy.
Appreciate what you have, be attentive even to the little things, get into the habit of counting 10 pleasant moments at the end of the day.
It is very important to take time for yourself and remember that the most important person in life is YOU, nothing will happen without you.
