Attachment

Attachment simply means that we want more. Wanting more mashed potatoes, wanting a promotion, wanting better muscle-tone, wanting a bigger house, wanting to annex a nearby country. We crave something that we think will make life better. Aversion means that we don't want. Don't want to get out of bed in the morning, don't want to go to the gym, don't want to clean the in-basket, don't want to consider equal rights for all citizens. If we could just get rid of something, then life would be better! Delusion is spacing out, shutting one's eyes, dissociating, or ignoring. We can walk down a city street without really seeing beggars. We can watch TV ads about saving children's lives without really considering hunger and poverty. We can put the garbage cans out to the curb without really thinking about landfills and recycling.
These three attitudes are basic to humanity, and underly our every action. The cultivation of mindfulness changes our automatic responses, and allows us to make choices about whether or not we react to them. Mindfulness lets us have informed choice about our actions.