“This too will pass” is an old sufi story, that teaches us not to form strong emotional attachments to “form” (thoughts, ideas, mental positions, possessions, even people) because all forms are transient, and change is an inevitable part of life. Thing break, ideas change, people move in and out of our lives.
Situations
If we’re in a good place, we want to stay there as long as possible, if we’re in a bad place we want to escape it as soon as possible. The truth is, nothing will stay the same, good or bad. We should enjoy the good times while they are there to be enjoyed, and should take strength from the fact that the bad times will not endure forever.
This isn’t to say we should sit back and do nothing, if we find ourselves struggling or in a unhappy place, we should do what we can to escape, and in doing the “right things” consistently, we’ll move away from the feeling of being trapped or stuck.
False sense of self
So attachments are formed when you invest a sense of self in them. You use “my”, “mine”, “our”, when you talk about them. They become an extension of you. When they are threatened, damaged, stolen, you feel pain. If your attachment is particularly strong, you become really upset.
Attachments to people
With regards to strong attachments to people, I’m not saying you can’t get close to people for fear of losing them, not at all, love is what makes life so joyful, but understand they are not an extension of you. They are not yours, like a possession, “my wife”, “my kids”. This identification is what lies behind great pain. They don’t belong to you, they are not yours to possess, they are their own being.
Enjoy, share, love, just don’t make them an extension of you, a false sense of self.