Compassionate detachment can be defined as the manner in which we relate to others when we allow them to deal with their own problems, and therefore they are free to choose to become responsible for their own issues

Beautiful Colorado Mountain Driving Scenery!

When I was young I discovered a chrysalis hanging from a branch in some scrub oak near our house. Each day after this discovery I would go out and check on this chrysalis in the hopes of seeing the butterfly that I knew was inside.

You can imagine how excited I was when one day I came out to find the head of this butterfly sticking out from a hole in the bottom of the cocoon!

I stood fascinated by the whole process, but wait… something was wrong. The butterfly seemed to struggle and not be getting anywhere. I decided to help. 

Very carefully I began to pull the silk from around the butterfly until I had a hole big enough to tear the cocoon open. With a “plop” the butterfly hit the ground. It wasn’t the magnificent flying creature I had envisioned.

Its wings were rolled up tight and it eventually died. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Instead of being a witness to the wonder of the butterfly’s flight, I was the cause of its death.

Had I known then what I know now about compassionate detachment, that butterfly would have lived to fulfill its life’s mission. I learned much later in life that the struggle I had witnessed was actually necessary for the butterfly to live.

The effort to get out of the cocoon causes fluid to be pumped into the wings and without that fluid the butterfly can’t unroll. By stepping in and interfering with this process I didn’t allow the butterfly to develop according to its nature. I prevented the struggle that was necessary to make it strong.

Compassionate detachment simply means we are not attached physically, spiritually, mentally and especially emotionally to the events, things, and people in our lives that we have compassion for. 

This does not mean we don’t care – because compassion is caring. It means we are not attached in a way that fails to serve the highest good of all.

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Compassionate_Detachment_Loving_Enough_to_Let_Go.html