We live in a time where we have the option to be limitless in terms of desires. What if what we really need for inner capability, for harmony, is less?

As Jim Carrey once stated, “I think all people should get rich and famous so they can see it’s not what they wanted.“

From what I’ve observed through many years of healing work and various traditions, this is what I’ve come to understand: I am able to be my truest self with less.

What I mean by that is that part of the design of being in this body, with these emotions, is to accept and not constantly seek to change. This was one of the first lessons I focused on in my life through the Yoga Sutras.

The First Lesson

Yoga Sutra 1.12 states:

“These thought-streams are controlled by practice and non-attachment.”

To be content in my own mind, I first had to learn how to be present. This meant creating a safe space for all of my emotions, thoughts, desires, masks, and responsibilities. It meant getting up and making it to work by 7 a.m. each day.

One thing was for certain: I could bend myself to ensure I tended to my responsibilities, and I would—to be of service, to be devoted, and to be present.

The Complexity of Attachment

What I didn’t expect was that the sutras, though they may seem simple, are not simple whatsoever.

My attachments were like the cosmos. Every year, every relationship, every role I occupied seemed to reveal another. Over time I began to understand that the practice was not about erasing attachments and arriving at some figurative perfect slate.

Meeting myself with enough self-love that I did not immediately need to scratch the itch.

In a world full of limitless options, I often ponder: what do you choose?

To be attached to every desire?

Or to find presence within the whole being that is you?

For me, non-attachment has never meant abandoning my dreams. It has meant finding enough peace within myself that my dreams are no longer responsible for completing me.

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