The Emptiness. Do you feel it?

It’s there when you wake. It’s there when you go to sleep. It’s there with you all the time, following you wherever you go and whatever you do. You cannot escape it, no more than you can escape yourself.

The feeling is painful, but not too painful. It’s more like a dull numbing, or a void deep within your soul. Instead of feeling excited and optimistic about life, you feel hollow and unfulfilled, like something is missing. Although you may have everything that should make you happy, you aren’t. This is the Emptiness.

People react to this feeling in various ways. Most try to ignore it by distracting themselves. They fill their lives with activities or substances that take their mind off the discomfort, depending on their preferences.

Some prefer distractions that occupy their mind. Whenever they feel the Emptiness, they grab their phone and open their favorite apps. They repeatedly scroll, click, and react without thinking, searching for something and nothing at the same time. Or, instead of the phone, they plop on the couch and turn on the TV. They watch shows, YouTube videos, or play video games that disengage their consciousness for hours on end.

Some prefer pleasure to distract from the Emptiness. They seek the excitement, or “high”, that certain substances or activities produce for them. This includes food, alcohol, drugs, traveling, sexual escapades, or gambling. Whenever they feel down, they seek these pleasurable things to alleviate their pain, a short-term fix to a much bigger problem.

And finally, some prefer to distract themselves by pursuing wealth, status, and power. They devote themselves entirely to their ambitions, working tirelessly to achieve what they believe will bring true happiness. They sacrifice everything- their health, family, and time for this dream, but in the end, the Emptiness remains and they realize it’s not what they imagined.

Whatever distractions a person uses, they don’t last. After the excitement fades and boredom kicks in, the Emptiness returns with a vengeance. It haunts them like a ghost, forcing them to continue seeking more distractions, or to finally face it.

I know this because I’ve tried it all.

All my life I’ve felt the Emptiness. It started when I was almost a teenager. As I went through the motions of an average adolescent, playing with friends, going to school, and everything else, I noticed I wasn’t happy. There was something missing from my life, and I needed to find it. In my search to fill this void, I tried a variety of things which got me into trouble, but taught me a lot.

Food

My first distraction was food. Around the same age I started to have that feeling, I became aware that I enjoyed eating food a lot. I liked it so much that I would eat as much as I could, as often as I could. I would devour 3-4 hamburgers in one meal, and at buffets, I’d gorge myself until my stomach felt like bursting. Consuming this much food gave me a taste of the satisfaction I craved, but it came at a cost.

After eating so much, I felt sick and gained weight. The sick feeling came once I finished a meal. I would get piercing stomach aches and terrible constipation, forcing me to spend too much time suffering on the toilet. I thought all of this was normal for the longest time, until I realized it was not. On top of that, my gluttony led me to gaining a lot of extra fat on my body, making me borderline obese. This didn’t help with my depression and self-esteem, which encouraged me to eat even more.

Eventually I realized that food was not cure to the Emptiness I felt. It was more of a short-term bandage for my feelings than anything else. Food did not make me truly happy, no matter how delicious it tasted. Beyond sustenance and nutrition, it is only a distraction.

Video Games

My second distraction was video games. Growing up, there wasn’t much excitement in my life, aside from the occasional movie or sleepover with friends. It wasn’t until I discovered video games on the computer that I found something to fill the Emptiness that I was feeling.

There was something special about them. Whenever I played, I felt exhilarated and at peace. It was so much more interesting than my boring, mundane life. I played various games such as Starcraft, Age of Empires, Diablo 2, and Counter-Strike, but one game consumed me the most.

This game is called World of Warcraft, or WoW, as many people call it. It is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), a type of game in which you create a character to control, playing alongside thousands of other people. In the digital world of Azeroth, you can do a variety of things, such as complete quests, trade items, kill monsters, and explore new territories.

I fell in love with this game when it came out in 2004. I was 16 years old at the time, during my third year of high school. For about a year, I played this game as much as I could. I played over 12 hours on Saturdays, and late into the night on the weekdays when I had school. I did not have much of a life outside playing WoW, but I didn’t mind. This game felt more real than my life.

At the end of the year I played, when I was approaching my senior year of high school, I began to have doubts. The game was starting to lose its appeal. Instead of feeling like magic like it once did, it felt more like a chore. One by one my friends decided to stop playing, never to be heard from again. This is expected of course, as most games lose their enjoyment over time. However, this game was different for me.

WoW has a feature which enables to see your total play time, or how many hours you played. When I checked my time at the end of the year I played, I was astounded. I had clocked in at over 400 hours.

I did the math. If I worked a $10 per hour job instead of playing that game, I would have earned $4,000, but what did I have instead? Nothing, really. While I felt like I was progressing through that game, I remained stagnant in my own life. Having this realization, I felt as empty as ever.

This game, and all other video games, are unable to provide the deep fulfillment that I yearn for. Instead, they only distract me.

Drugs and Alcohol

In my fourth and final year of high school, I found my next distraction: mind-altering substances. This took distracting to the next level. While food and video games somewhat alleviated the Emptiness I felt, they did little compared to the effects of drugs and alcohol.

I remember my first taste of alcohol. It was during my lunch break at school on a sunny day. My friend brought a small bottle of peach schnapps. He handed me it to take a swig, which I did out of curiosity. The potent, almost painful, taste surprised me. I did not enjoy it as it burned down my throat, but I did like how I felt as I sat down in my next class- warm happiness, a bit silly, and with not a care in the world. This was fun and exciting, I could get used to it.

Shortly after that, I had my first experience with marijuana. Home alone, my friend came by to my house and we went to the backyard. He asked for an empty soda can, which I brought to him but wondered why. He bent it a little in the middle, poked little holes on the surface with a knife, then brought out a tiny plastic bag with something green in it. He handed me the bag and offered me to smell it. The contents were pungent, like a skunk. I handed it back to him, where he then pinched some out and carefully placed it on the holes of the can.

He instructed me to bring the can’s opening to my lips, then breathe in deeply as he lights the marijuana with a BIC lighter. Once the smoke fills my lungs, I should then hold it as long as I can for maximum effect. I did as he instructed, and began to cough violently. This wasn’t any more enjoyable than the peach schnapps, and painful in its own way.

I did not feel much once we finished. We talked a little, sitting on the backyard patio furniture, then quickly left before my parents returned home. We walked to a nearby park which was in between both our houses, and we parted ways.

On my walk back home, I began to noticed that I was feeling different. A little light-headed, but not as if I was going to pass out. I felt relaxed yet curious about this new feeling. After arriving home, I did what I usually did and got a snack to eat while I played video games. This time was different. The food tasted amazing, and the game was enthralling. I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed this. Was I in heaven?

These two experience began my descent into the dark world of drugs and alcohol. With my group of friends, we regularly drank alcohol, smoked marijuana, and occasionally partook other drugs. I did this for four years non-stop, from 18 to 22 years of age. I spent most of the money I earned from part-time jobs on this life of partying and indulging. All of this was fun, until reality hit.

After years of mindless oblivion through drugs and alcohol, I woke up to realize I was a loser. I had dropped out of community college and only worked dead-end jobs. My health was suffering, as I had a nasty smoker’s cough, perpetually blood-shot eyes, and felt terrible most of the time. Even worse, I had lost most of my ability to think and speak coherently. All I was concerned with was acquiring my next high or drink, and did not care about anything or anyone else. I finally hit the bottom.

Throughout that four year period, I believed I was doing something exceptional with my life, but I wasn’t. I was only deceived into thinking so. While these substances provided an illusion of fulfillment, happiness, and grandeur, they only brought misery and pain in the end. Like food and video games, they are nothing more than a distraction from what I really should be doing.

Traveling

After breaking free from drugs and alcohol, I cleaned up my life for the most part. I stopped using those substances, moved to a new state, and went back to school where I finished my bachelor’s degree. I did all of this since it’s what society taught me to do, but the Emptiness persisted. Without the distractions I used before, I needed find a way to get rid of that feeling, to find a purpose to my life.

While strolling through a job fair in my university during my final semester before graduation, I noticed a booth that advertised an English teaching job in Taiwan. Although the compensation was not great, the school would provide lodging and even pay for a round trip airline ticket.

I considered my options at the time. I could either find a job related to my degree, beginning the slow climb on the corporate ladder with no end in sight, or I could take the Taiwan job and go on adventure. I chose the later.

Not expecting to stay in Taiwan for more than six months, I ended up living there for over two years. During this period, I traveled to various areas on the island nation, as well as other countries in Asia. It was all quite exciting, given that I was born and raised in America. These Asian countries were all so foreign from what I was used to, there was always something new and unfamiliar to experience each day. I felt like I was finally happy, or so I thought.

After living there for an extended amount of time, everything gradually lost its excitement. The places began to feel the same, as well as the people I met. I would talk to travelers in the hostels I stayed at, and they all seemed to be on a similar frequency. They all sought happiness in foreign lands, by partying, indulging, and wandering without a purpose. They didn’t want to accept the reality of their life, they wanted to escape it.

Was I the same?

I believe so.

My years abroad taught me that traveling in itself does not bring a true, lasting happiness. It will provide fun and excitement, but only for a limited time. Reality will eventually kick in and the Emptiness will return.

Success

With that realization, I felt compelled to return home to the United States. I had some duty to complete there, but I didn’t know what it was. All I knew is that by staying in Asia, I would be avoiding that unknown responsibility.

Back in the States, I had no idea what to do. Should I get a job? Should I join the military? Should I go back to school?

Being overwhelmed with so many potential paths forward, I did what many young, naïve Americans do. I got into debt and went to graduate school (MBA), hoping the program will figure out my life for me.

I think I did this because I assumed a successful life would mean a happy life. With an MBA, I believed I’d be able to get a stable and high paying job, and with that income, I could continue investing and amassing my assets. Once establishing many income streams, such as rental properties, stock dividends, and small businesses, I’d have enough wealth to retire early if I wanted, not needing to work a job to live. At this point, I’d have the free time and resources to discover activities I really enjoyed doing.

On top of this, holding a high-level position in a respectable company seemed appealing to me. I wanted to be respected for my position, not ashamed. I wanted to proudly introduce myself and what I did to new people. In other words, I wanted status in society. It all seemed to make sense to me at the time, until I found myself halfway through the MBA.

I did fine in the program. I read the case studies, completed the group projects, gave presentations, and passed the classes. It was not easy, but it was doable. I thought everything was going fine, but deep down I knew something was amiss. This situation I was in did not feel authentic or meaningful. I didn’t really find business topics and skills interesting to learn, nor did my pursuit for wealth and status keep me motivated. I did it because I thought it was right for me, but it was actually wrong.

The Emptiness cannot be cured by wealth and status, nor any other distraction. It is often the most rich and famous people who feel the void the strongest. This is why many of them turn to drugs, alcohol, and infidelity to distract them from the hollow pain. There are a few ways to cure it, but first we need to understand what the Emptiness is.

The Emptiness

While the Emptiness feels uncomfortable, it’s not inherently bad. It’s actually quite positive for us. The feeling is a compass of some sort, guiding us to what we should (or shouldn’t) be doing with our life. The stronger we feel it, the more we are veering off the higher path we ought to be taking.

I don’t know what the origin of the Emptiness is. It could be physical, mental, or spiritual, or a combination of all three. Whatever it may be, however, does not matter. The Emptiness is a part of us as much as our arms and legs. It will follow us throughout our whole life until we take our last breath. We can either try to ignore it, or we can cure ourselves from it.

Instead of distracting ourselves from the Emptiness, which only temporarily takes our mind off the prompting pain, there are three ways to cure us from the feeling. The cures only last for so long, and must be replenished on a daily basis. If we stop doing them, the Emptiness will inevitably return to our soul.

First Cure

The first cure is to start doing healthy and productive things. These activities affect a variety of aspects about ourselves. Some examples include eating nutritious food, exercising, reading inspirational books, praying/meditating, writing in a journal, and doing acts of service for others.

There is no clear guide book on what activities to do. The few I included above are just some that I have worked for me. Ultimately, you’ll need to figure out what’s best for you as an individual. Deep down you’ll know if what you’re doing is a positive thing, or a harmful and time-wasting distraction.

When you do these beneficial activities, you will feel good about yourself in a way that a distraction would never produce. In addition, the Emptiness will weaken, because you’re getting back on the right path.

Second Cure

The second cure is not something you should do, but instead, something you should stop doing. As you begin to add new positive activities to your life, the second cure is to stop doing the harmful distractions you’ve been doing. This can include many of the distractions I talked about earlier.

When you stop these old distractions, you allow your mind, body, and soul a break from all the toxic things you’ve consumed or done. This removes some of heaviness you feel, giving you more energy and motivation to do positive things.

This cure is critical to overcoming the Emptiness. If you continue fill your mind and body with junk, you will feel like junk. There is no way around it. Until you stop doing the distractions that are holding you back and wasting your time, you can never take your life to the next level. Until then, the Emptiness will persist, nagging you to do the right thing.

Once you’ve made progress in both the first and second cures, you’ll start to feel a lightness and strength, feeling healthier than you ever have been in your life. The Emptiness is gone for the most part, but you still feel you could do more. At this point, you’re ready to begin the third cure.

Third Cure

The third and final cure is perhaps the most effective cure of them all, but it’s also the most difficult. This cure is to begin doing the work you were born to do.

Everyone has a higher purpose or mission in life. For some, it’s to create inspiring art, while others it’s to raise children. Some individuals are meant to protect and serve, while some build things. Whatever special tasks each person has in life, it’s all equally important. When it comes to our unique mission in life, there is no better or worse.

The Emptiness helps us discover what that mission is. It knows if the job we currently have is a distraction, or whether if it’s a stepping stone for our life’s work. It knows if the person we’re dating is the right person for us, and it knows we’re taking it easy or giving our all. The Emptiness is here to guide and direct us. All we need to do is listen.

When you are aligned with your life’s mission and making progress on it, you will stop feeling the Emptiness. Instead, you will feel a deep fulfillment and passion that could never be bought with money, fame, or power. You are doing what you were born to do, instead of falling prey to the countless distractions in this world.

Your Mission

I can’t tell you what your mission is, nor anyone else can. This is something you need to discover and complete on your own. It won’t be easy of course, but it will be worth it. This work makes living exciting and fulfilling, like it all really matters. Some never figure what their life’s work is, but you can.

What were you born to do? What is your life’s mission?

Figure this out and spend the rest of your life doing it, and the Emptiness will never bother you again.

The Emptiness. Do you feel it?

It’s there when you wake. It’s there when you go to sleep. It’s there with you all the time, following you wherever you go and whatever you do. You cannot escape it, no more than you can escape yourself.

The feeling is painful, but not too painful. It’s more like a dull numbing, or a void deep within your soul. Instead of feeling excited and optimistic about life, you feel hollow and unfulfilled, like something is missing. Although you may have everything that should make you happy, you aren’t. This is the Emptiness.

People react to this feeling in various ways. Most try to ignore it by distracting themselves. They fill their lives with activities or substances that take their mind off the discomfort, depending on their preferences.

Some prefer distractions that occupy their mind. Whenever they feel the Emptiness, they grab their phone and open their favorite apps. They repeatedly scroll, click, and react without thinking, searching for something and nothing at the same time. Or, instead of the phone, they plop on the couch and turn on the TV. They watch shows, YouTube videos, or play video games that disengage their consciousness for hours on end.

Some prefer pleasure to distract from the Emptiness. They seek the excitement, or “high”, that certain substances or activities produce for them. This includes food, alcohol, drugs, traveling, sexual escapades, or gambling. Whenever they feel down, they seek these pleasurable things to alleviate their pain, a short-term fix to a much bigger problem.

And finally, some prefer to distract themselves by pursuing wealth, status, and power. They devote themselves entirely to their ambitions, working tirelessly to achieve what they believe will bring true happiness. They sacrifice everything- their health, family, and time for this dream, but in the end, the Emptiness remains and they realize it’s not what they imagined.

Whatever distractions a person uses, they don’t last. After the excitement fades and boredom kicks in, the Emptiness returns with a vengeance. It haunts them like a ghost, forcing them to continue seeking more distractions, or to finally face it.

I know this because I’ve tried it all.

All my life I’ve felt the Emptiness. It started when I was almost a teenager. As I went through the motions of an average adolescent, playing with friends, going to school, and everything else, I noticed I wasn’t happy. There was something missing from my life, and I needed to find it. In my search to fill this void, I tried a variety of things which got me into trouble, but taught me a lot.

Food

My first distraction was food. Around the same age I started to have that feeling, I became aware that I enjoyed eating food a lot. I liked it so much that I would eat as much as I could, as often as I could. I would devour 3-4 hamburgers in one meal, and at buffets, I’d gorge myself until my stomach felt like bursting. Consuming this much food gave me a taste of the satisfaction I craved, but it came at a cost.

After eating so much, I felt sick and gained weight. The sick feeling came once I finished a meal. I would get piercing stomach aches and terrible constipation, forcing me to spend too much time suffering on the toilet. I thought all of this was normal for the longest time, until I realized it was not. On top of that, my gluttony led me to gaining a lot of extra fat on my body, making me borderline obese. This didn’t help with my depression and self-esteem, which encouraged me to eat even more.

Eventually I realized that food was not cure to the Emptiness I felt. It was more of a short-term bandage for my feelings than anything else. Food did not make me truly happy, no matter how delicious it tasted. Beyond sustenance and nutrition, it is only a distraction.

Video Games

My second distraction was video games. Growing up, there wasn’t much excitement in my life, aside from the occasional movie or sleepover with friends. It wasn’t until I discovered video games on the computer that I found something to fill the Emptiness that I was feeling.

There was something special about them. Whenever I played, I felt exhilarated and at peace. It was so much more interesting than my boring, mundane life. I played various games such as Starcraft, Age of Empires, Diablo 2, and Counter-Strike, but one game consumed me the most.

This game is called World of Warcraft, or WoW, as many people call it. It is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), a type of game in which you create a character to control, playing alongside thousands of other people. In the digital world of Azeroth, you can do a variety of things, such as complete quests, trade items, kill monsters, and explore new territories.

I fell in love with this game when it came out in 2004. I was 16 years old at the time, during my third year of high school. For about a year, I played this game as much as I could. I played over 12 hours on Saturdays, and late into the night on the weekdays when I had school. I did not have much of a life outside playing WoW, but I didn’t mind. This game felt more real than my life.

At the end of the year I played, when I was approaching my senior year of high school, I began to have doubts. The game was starting to lose its appeal. Instead of feeling like magic like it once did, it felt more like a chore. One by one my friends decided to stop playing, never to be heard from again. This is expected of course, as most games lose their enjoyment over time. However, this game was different for me.

WoW has a feature which enables to see your total play time, or how many hours you played. When I checked my time at the end of the year I played, I was astounded. I had clocked in at over 400 hours.

I did the math. If I worked a $10 per hour job instead of playing that game, I would have earned $4,000, but what did I have instead? Nothing, really. While I felt like I was progressing through that game, I remained stagnant in my own life. Having this realization, I felt as empty as ever.

This game, and all other video games, are unable to provide the deep fulfillment that I yearn for. Instead, they only distract me.

Drugs and Alcohol

In my fourth and final year of high school, I found my next distraction: mind-altering substances. This took distracting to the next level. While food and video games somewhat alleviated the Emptiness I felt, they did little compared to the effects of drugs and alcohol.

I remember my first taste of alcohol. It was during my lunch break at school on a sunny day. My friend brought a small bottle of peach schnapps. He handed me it to take a swig, which I did out of curiosity. The potent, almost painful, taste surprised me. I did not enjoy it as it burned down my throat, but I did like how I felt as I sat down in my next class- warm happiness, a bit silly, and with not a care in the world. This was fun and exciting, I could get used to it.

Shortly after that, I had my first experience with marijuana. Home alone, my friend came by to my house and we went to the backyard. He asked for an empty soda can, which I brought to him but wondered why. He bent it a little in the middle, poked little holes on the surface with a knife, then brought out a tiny plastic bag with something green in it. He handed me the bag and offered me to smell it. The contents were pungent, like a skunk. I handed it back to him, where he then pinched some out and carefully placed it on the holes of the can.

He instructed me to bring the can’s opening to my lips, then breathe in deeply as he lights the marijuana with a BIC lighter. Once the smoke fills my lungs, I should then hold it as long as I can for maximum effect. I did as he instructed, and began to cough violently. This wasn’t any more enjoyable than the peach schnapps, and painful in its own way.

I did not feel much once we finished. We talked a little, sitting on the backyard patio furniture, then quickly left before my parents returned home. We walked to a nearby park which was in between both our houses, and we parted ways.

On my walk back home, I began to noticed that I was feeling different. A little light-headed, but not as if I was going to pass out. I felt relaxed yet curious about this new feeling. After arriving home, I did what I usually did and got a snack to eat while I played video games. This time was different. The food tasted amazing, and the game was enthralling. I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed this. Was I in heaven?

These two experience began my descent into the dark world of drugs and alcohol. With my group of friends, we regularly drank alcohol, smoked marijuana, and occasionally partook other drugs. I did this for four years non-stop, from 18 to 22 years of age. I spent most of the money I earned from part-time jobs on this life of partying and indulging. All of this was fun, until reality hit.

After years of mindless oblivion through drugs and alcohol, I woke up to realize I was a loser. I had dropped out of community college and only worked dead-end jobs. My health was suffering, as I had a nasty smoker’s cough, perpetually blood-shot eyes, and felt terrible most of the time. Even worse, I had lost most of my ability to think and speak coherently. All I was concerned with was acquiring my next high or drink, and did not care about anything or anyone else. I finally hit the bottom.

Throughout that four year period, I believed I was doing something exceptional with my life, but I wasn’t. I was only deceived into thinking so. While these substances provided an illusion of fulfillment, happiness, and grandeur, they only brought misery and pain in the end. Like food and video games, they are nothing more than a distraction from what I really should be doing.

Traveling

After breaking free from drugs and alcohol, I cleaned up my life for the most part. I stopped using those substances, moved to a new state, and went back to school where I finished my bachelor’s degree. I did all of this since it’s what society taught me to do, but the Emptiness persisted. Without the distractions I used before, I needed find a way to get rid of that feeling, to find a purpose to my life.

While strolling through a job fair in my university during my final semester before graduation, I noticed a booth that advertised an English teaching job in Taiwan. Although the compensation was not great, the school would provide lodging and even pay for a round trip airline ticket.

I considered my options at the time. I could either find a job related to my degree, beginning the slow climb on the corporate ladder with no end in sight, or I could take the Taiwan job and go on adventure. I chose the later.

Not expecting to stay in Taiwan for more than six months, I ended up living there for over two years. During this period, I traveled to various areas on the island nation, as well as other countries in Asia. It was all quite exciting, given that I was born and raised in America. These Asian countries were all so foreign from what I was used to, there was always something new and unfamiliar to experience each day. I felt like I was finally happy, or so I thought.

After living there for an extended amount of time, everything gradually lost its excitement. The places began to feel the same, as well as the people I met. I would talk to travelers in the hostels I stayed at, and they all seemed to be on a similar frequency. They all sought happiness in foreign lands, by partying, indulging, and wandering without a purpose. They didn’t want to accept the reality of their life, they wanted to escape it.

Was I the same?

I believe so.

My years abroad taught me that traveling in itself does not bring a true, lasting happiness. It will provide fun and excitement, but only for a limited time. Reality will eventually kick in and the Emptiness will return.

Success

With that realization, I felt compelled to return home to the United States. I had some duty to complete there, but I didn’t know what it was. All I knew is that by staying in Asia, I would be avoiding that unknown responsibility.

Back in the States, I had no idea what to do. Should I get a job? Should I join the military? Should I go back to school?

Being overwhelmed with so many potential paths forward, I did what many young, naïve Americans do. I got into debt and went to graduate school (MBA), hoping the program will figure out my life for me.

I think I did this because I assumed a successful life would mean a happy life. With an MBA, I believed I’d be able to get a stable and high paying job, and with that income, I could continue investing and amassing my assets. Once establishing many income streams, such as rental properties, stock dividends, and small businesses, I’d have enough wealth to retire early if I wanted, not needing to work a job to live. At this point, I’d have the free time and resources to discover activities I really enjoyed doing.

On top of this, holding a high-level position in a respectable company seemed appealing to me. I wanted to be respected for my position, not ashamed. I wanted to proudly introduce myself and what I did to new people. In other words, I wanted status in society. It all seemed to make sense to me at the time, until I found myself halfway through the MBA.

I did fine in the program. I read the case studies, completed the group projects, gave presentations, and passed the classes. It was not easy, but it was doable. I thought everything was going fine, but deep down I knew something was amiss. This situation I was in did not feel authentic or meaningful. I didn’t really find business topics and skills interesting to learn, nor did my pursuit for wealth and status keep me motivated. I did it because I thought it was right for me, but it was actually wrong.

The Emptiness cannot be cured by wealth and status, nor any other distraction. It is often the most rich and famous people who feel the void the strongest. This is why many of them turn to drugs, alcohol, and infidelity to distract them from the hollow pain. There are a few ways to cure it, but first we need to understand what the Emptiness is.

The Emptiness

While the Emptiness feels uncomfortable, it’s not inherently bad. It’s actually quite positive for us. The feeling is a compass of some sort, guiding us to what we should (or shouldn’t) be doing with our life. The stronger we feel it, the more we are veering off the higher path we ought to be taking.

I don’t know what the origin of the Emptiness is. It could be physical, mental, or spiritual, or a combination of all three. Whatever it may be, however, does not matter. The Emptiness is a part of us as much as our arms and legs. It will follow us throughout our whole life until we take our last breath. We can either try to ignore it, or we can cure ourselves from it.

Instead of distracting ourselves from the Emptiness, which only temporarily takes our mind off the prompting pain, there are three ways to cure us from the feeling. The cures only last for so long, and must be replenished on a daily basis. If we stop doing them, the Emptiness will inevitably return to our soul.

First Cure

The first cure is to start doing healthy and productive things. These activities affect a variety of aspects about ourselves. Some examples include eating nutritious food, exercising, reading inspirational books, praying/meditating, writing in a journal, and doing acts of service for others.

There is no clear guide book on what activities to do. The few I included above are just some that I have worked for me. Ultimately, you’ll need to figure out what’s best for you as an individual. Deep down you’ll know if what you’re doing is a positive thing, or a harmful and time-wasting distraction.

When you do these beneficial activities, you will feel good about yourself in a way that a distraction would never produce. In addition, the Emptiness will weaken, because you’re getting back on the right path.

Second Cure

The second cure is not something you should do, but instead, something you should stop doing. As you begin to add new positive activities to your life, the second cure is to stop doing the harmful distractions you’ve been doing. This can include many of the distractions I talked about earlier.

When you stop these old distractions, you allow your mind, body, and soul a break from all the toxic things you’ve consumed or done. This removes some of heaviness you feel, giving you more energy and motivation to do positive things.

This cure is critical to overcoming the Emptiness. If you continue fill your mind and body with junk, you will feel like junk. There is no way around it. Until you stop doing the distractions that are holding you back and wasting your time, you can never take your life to the next level. Until then, the Emptiness will persist, nagging you to do the right thing.

Once you’ve made progress in both the first and second cures, you’ll start to feel a lightness and strength, feeling healthier than you ever have been in your life. The Emptiness is gone for the most part, but you still feel you could do more. At this point, you’re ready to begin the third cure.

Third Cure

The third and final cure is perhaps the most effective cure of them all, but it’s also the most difficult. This cure is to begin doing the work you were born to do.

Everyone has a higher purpose or mission in life. For some, it’s to create inspiring art, while others it’s to raise children. Some individuals are meant to protect and serve, while some build things. Whatever special tasks each person has in life, it’s all equally important. When it comes to our unique mission in life, there is no better or worse.

The Emptiness helps us discover what that mission is. It knows if the job we currently have is a distraction, or whether if it’s a stepping stone for our life’s work. It knows if the person we’re dating is the right person for us, and it knows we’re taking it easy or giving our all. The Emptiness is here to guide and direct us. All we need to do is listen.

When you are aligned with your life’s mission and making progress on it, you will stop feeling the Emptiness. Instead, you will feel a deep fulfillment and passion that could never be bought with money, fame, or power. You are doing what you were born to do, instead of falling prey to the countless distractions in this world.

Your Mission

I can’t tell you what your mission is, nor anyone else can. This is something you need to discover and complete on your own. It won’t be easy of course, but it will be worth it. This work makes living exciting and fulfilling, like it all really matters. Some never figure what their life’s work is, but you can.

What were you born to do? What is your life’s mission?

Figure this out and spend the rest of your life doing it, and the Emptiness will never bother you again.