What's missing from your life?
Moreover, does it always feel like something is "missing," no matter what you have, what you do and what you accomplish? I ask because I got to thinking about a couple of friends of mine from the past — we seem to have gradually lost touch — who were eternally trying to fill some "void" they felt they had inside.
Of course, the problem they ran into was that as soon as they added "whatever it was they believed would help" to their lives... they'd discover that it only helped for a very brief time, and then they were right back to "questing" for whatever it was they felt was missing from their lives.
So what is really missing? Or is anything actually "missing," at all?
I guess there was a time in my 20's when I had a bit of that "something is missing from my life" feeling, and that's when I learned the importance feeling more grateful for what already is rather than worrying so much about what was missing.
It may sound very cliché, but there's an awful lot of small things in daily life that we end up taking for granted... having a "gratitude practice" really helps in terms of becoming more present and more able to appreciate all those small things.
Of course, I am not saying this to — in any way — diminish the hardships of those who truly are having a difficult time because something significant is missing from their lives... but in a very broad sense, we tend to have far more than we don't have.
And we also tend to put a lot more attention into what we think is going wrong, rather than appreciating the many things that are right.
One of the things that really helped me focus on "what is here" has been my nature photography. It's all about appreciating what is right in front of me... which diverts attention from "what's missing."
And that's something I am grateful for!
Thanks for reading, and have a great rest of your week!
How about YOU? Do you find yourself yearning for things that feel like they are "missing?" Are do you pretty much have what you want? If something is missing, does having it actually take away the sense of "missing?" Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20220401 00:45 PDT
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