Oftentimes, we hear something, and it just seems to fit. The belief, philosophy, or concept we’re hearing just sits very comfortably.

Try this one and see how it makes you feel:

We suffer because of our attachment to impermanent things.

Straight away, as I did, you might think that this is fairly obvious. And it is. It fits, does it not? Even so, we do it anyway. We attach ourselves to our possessions and the people we love. How can we avoid this?

It is possible to love and, at the same time, recognise the importance of accepting that everything (except one thing) is impermanent

Nothing (except one thing) lasts forever. To assume we’re going to be with the same person, or that our circumstances will remain unchanged all our life, is madness. The likelihood is that you’ll have more than one meaningful relationship, and you’ll most certainly experience changes that are both welcome and unwelcome throughout your life. And thank goodness for that.

The most valuable thing we can take from all of this is how we can reduce our suffering.

We love someone without attachment when our love is unconditional

Unconditional love for another happens when we’ve looked closely at our fears and fantasies. If there is fear, this means we will apply conditions to our love. These conditions create attachment. They are the attachment.

The long and the short of understanding attachment to anything, be it relationships, money, circumstances, or even life itself, comes from acknowledging our fears and our fantasies.

There is an antidote to fear. Firstly, we must acknowledge our fear of change and truth (reality)

Secondly, we must embrace this fear. To do this, we must imagine how life would be without the thing we’ve become attached to through fantasy and/or fear. We must simply experience and embrace this feeling. It then becomes easy for us to begin imagining a future where we are free—a future beyond the fear and fantasy.

Loving life, people, and nature becomes something exceptional and genuine when we’re free of fear and fantasy. Accepting impermanence frees us to love unconditionally. We’re able to express love in such a way that it empowers all around us. Unconditional love really is a beautiful thing because I believe it’s the only permanence you’ll ever find.