Here’s a view near to where I used to live in New Zealand. I had an incredible life there. I was an outdoor instructor – in the summer I’d kayak and run and climb mountains, in the winter I’d snowboard. I think I got 100+ days one winter, which isn’t too bad at all.
Where I was living, the very cool jobs, the friends, the adventures, the goals I was ticking off … they were all amazing. And yet … (isn’t there always a BUT? ha!) … it didn’t add up to much. I was so confused.
I don’t know if you can relate to this – but I felt like a donut. I had a beautiful life on the outside, but nothing on the inside. How could I even complain? I had arranged my life exactly as I wanted it, I had my version of success, and yet … I felt empty. Poor me, I hear you say, and I get it totally.
But if you don’t have a connection with anything truly significant, it doesn’t matter if you’re on top of the pile or at the bottom.
Being a donut is not fun. That kind of emptiness is tough.
No matter what you throw into the void, it never fills up. Nothing: Careers, cars, expensive dining, shoes, adventures and holidays. Not sex, drugs, rock and roll and risk … none of it satisfies.
What does truly satisfy, what is lasting, is the inner connection to presence and awareness. That gives you something solid, a foundation, an anchor that keeps you steady and sane and smiling, no matter what’s going on around you.
It means your life makes sense. It gives you the foundation of meaning from which you can build a successful life. Finding enough in yourself, as you are, as the moment is, while holding goals and things you want to achieve … so important.
There’s an old saying: “Go within, or go without” – and that’s so true.