I agree that it’s most difficult to put this into practice with relationships. Dennis (my cat) went away again 4 days after he came back and was gone for 2 weeks. This time, I trusted that he would come back and connect with us. He did. And he has stayed around much more since I let go of needing him to be here! So you’re right that when we consciously let go of people (and animals) needing to be what we want them to be, they are happier.

I’ve found that by detaching from my expectations of a particular outcome, I actually allow more possibilities to arise as a result — which means I end up being more pleased with the eventual outcome (usually) than I might have been had I kept holding on to the original expectation. In other words, non-attachment leased to freedom and expansion.

The hardest thing (for me) is putting this into practice with relationships. We create stories for those we love and become attached to the maintenance of those stories. But I find that those around me are happiest when I actively and consciously let go of any image or thought I carry about them except whatever I perceive in a given moment.