That "what am I missing?" feeling... that emptiness... that longing... it's perfectly normal. I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's okay. You're not alone. Everyone goes through it.

All the "stuff" around you can't satisfy you completely or for long. Relationships become strained; work gets tedious; hobbies turn boring; sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, dip, clubbing... whatever... they all end up at some point leaving you more empty than before. Why? Why is it nothing works?

You're neglecting who you really are

Your body isn't who you are. Your feelings, emotion, and intellect aren't who you are. You are a spirit. That "missing piece thing" you've got going on is your spirit telling you that something's wrong - that you're neglecting or completely ignoring your true self. Attempting to satisfy your body's wants and desires doesn't do anything for your spirit. All the effort and energy spent to placate your feelings or mind may seem like it's working, but in time will show to be fruitless.

Think about it this way: let's say you have a gas-powered motor vehicle. Pretend it's any vehicle you want. Car, truck, SUV, motorcycle - whatever. You can keep the oil changed, air in the tires, outside washed, and interior cleaned, but if you don't keep fuel in the tank, that vehicle is going to stop running. At first, it's going to throw up a warning light on the dash to let you know it's running low. Then, when it's finally used up all its fuel, it's going to spit and sputter and then finally give up. Changing the oil, cleaning it up, or putting more air in the tires won't help.

The same thing happens with us. When we try to fill that void inside of us with the wrong things, they leave us still feeling empty. It's like eating a snack and then saying, "meh - that wasn't what I wanted." That's our low fuel warning light coming on. We try something else and the light comes on again. And again. And again. "Maybe I just haven't found the right job" we think. (Or hobby or TV show or alcohol or sexual partner or whatever.) So we keep going - ignoring our spirit.

When our spirit finally runs out of fuel, that's when we're in serious danger

When our spirit begins to spit and sputter like a vehicle's tank finally out of fuel, we're going to run into serious issues. That's when small problems turn into big ones. Physical sickness, depression, anxiety, paranoia and other physical, mental, or emotional issues all become crippling. They overwhelm us. We get wrapped up in them... swaddled up and buried in things we don't think we can ever escape from. We feel like it's almost impossible to get out. We don't see any glimmer of hope. There's no light - only darkness.

You are a spirit. You live in a body. You have a soul (mind, will, emotions). Just like you feed your body... just like you feed your soul... you have to feed your spirit. Tomorrow let's wrap this thing up. Let's look at how to finally satisfy that longing... how to fill that void... how to come out of the darkness... how to finally have hope.