Attachment vs. Commitment

"While attachment has it's source in the personality, in what the Buddhists call the 'desire nature', commitment comes from the soul.   In relationship to life, just as in human relationships, attachment closes down options, commitment opens them up.  Modern life has made us people of attachment rather than people of commitment.   Attachment leads farther and farther into entrapment.   Commitment, though it may sometimes feel constricting, will ultimately lead to greater and greater degrees of freedom.   One can distinguish between the two in most situations by noticing over time whether one moves through this activity or relationship closer to freedom or closer to bondage.   Attachment is a reflex, an autonomic response which often may not reflect our deepest good.   Commitment is a conscious choice, to align ourselves with our most genuine values and our sense of purpose.   Survival in a setting of life threatening illness may involve a willingness to let go of everything but life itself."    Rachel Naomi Remen