Attachments

Attachments to things, people and systems are something we need to look at when we are on the spiritual path.  We need to make sure that we have released our attachments.  You need to ask yourself: can you stand alone and be in your own light, by yourself alone, and provide for yourself?  If the answer is no, then you have an attachment.  This attachment is a neediness, it means that you can’t survive without an external force.  This external force could be a person, the government, a benefits system etc.  What we need to look at is the attachment to the need, and not the need itself.  It doesn’t mean that we have to live alone in poverty and have no friends, it is about having neediness for those things.  If you can stand in your own light you will be surrounded by the group, you won’t be alone or unsupported.  You will stand alone but be united.  You will then find a real strength where people aren’t leaning on each other for support.  Once someone starts to lean, the whole structure can fall.

 

Our relationships with others are often our biggest opportunities for learning.  Look at whether you have an unhealthy attachment in your close relationships.  Is there equal energy exchange, or is one person relying more on another to have their needs met?  This also extends to your emotional wellbeing.  I love this quote:

“Happiness is a state of mind, not the state of a romantic relationship.  Happiness should be understood as something you have all the time, regardless of what your partner is doing.  You must not put the responsibility for your happiness on your partner.  It is your own responsibility.  This lesson has a lot to do with whether you have preferences or attachments regarding what your partner does.  If you have preferences, you can be happy no matter what.  If you have attachments, you will sometimes feel like a loser”. – Joshua David Stone, Soul Psychology.

Where are you up to with your attachments?  Is there some neediness that you can be addressing right now?  Release the ball and chain, you'll feel much lighter...