No attachments does not mean we are detached.

It does not mean we neither care nor try.

Not having attachments is to free ourselves of self,

of expectations and lingering thoughts.

In everything we do, we need to do the best we can. But while we are not attached to what we do, we do not move to the extreme of detachment, of not caring, which is what people may initially think non-attachment means.

In non-attachment, we do care and we do try. But we are not caught up in thoughts of “I am doing.”

When we are not attached, we can leave self out of what we are doing. When our sense of self is not involved, when we are thinking “how best to do this” rather than “this is how I want to do it,” we can let go of expectations of a certain  outcome. And when we do not have expectations, we will not be disappointed or upset when the expected outcome does not occur.

Without disappointment or upset, our thoughts will not keep returning to and lingering on such negative thoughts.