I was thinking tonight, about that pillar of Buddhist philosophy in regards to attachment and suffering. I got home from work tonight and before returning home drove up to watch the break at cowell beach under the stars. A fog was coming in and it smelt amazingly good. I took a couple deep breaths and really felt very peaceful. I should do this more often I thought, then got in the car and drove home.

Anyway, at lunch today, I got a little creative and did some really neat calculations with regards to savings. I found a compounding interest calculator online and got creative, calculating things like the compounding interest of 3% employer match over 5, 10, and 30 years. It was amazing to see how much this equates too. I calculated my hourly salary, minus all my work expenses, and figured this out including my drive and lunch breaks, it was a liberating. I figured out how much I do truly save on taxes every year in this house and then calculated renting versus owning, I placed these savings in the compounding interest calculator at just 2% interest and was amazed to see how these differences panned out. I made lists trying to equate my happiness of home ownership versus the alternatives. I found it is hard to place a dollar amount on where you live, there are a lot of factors that equate into overall happiness, like ones proximity to Pizza my Heart.

Which brings me to my sense of attachment.  What am I attached to?  I (as difficult as this is to admit) am attached to my money I realized, and this has been a great sense of unhappiness.  And as this year has taught me loss, is incredibly painful, even if it is on paper. I am attached to my family, to my wife and our children, I am attached to some ridiculous STUFF like my surfboard and my guitar oh and my little Zune I love that thing. I am attached to things money can’t replace, like my patients and my colleagues, I am attached to my time off with Layla and Wendy, and actually believe it or not in some ways my commute, How else would I be able to sit and think about all this stuff?

How do we get rid of attachment. The more I think about it the more I realize that this philosophy simply reinforces the idea that happiness is found in being present, in the moment that is. I have realized though, that strict financial planning which seems at first a senseless worry for someone living in the present,  actually frees me from attachment by creating a sense of control and understanding that has allowed me to separate myself from fear of loss of money, and freed me from worry. This sense of understanding, of ability to save, simplifying my life, relieving myself form liabilities, all brings with it freedom. And freedom from money, comes with a feeling of having enough, to cover life’s emergency’s and daily ins and outs. It also comes from a freedom in knowing that we are preparing for a long and fruitful life. When we have accomplished these goals at least with regards to money, we can loosen our sense of attachment.

I haven’t yet figured out how we do this with our loved ones, the only thing I can figure, is that we give them as much love as we can every day that we are blessed to have them in our lives, and the rewards will far outweigh what we can earn in a retirement savings account!