Photo by Iswanto Arif on Unsplash
One of the biggest reasons a lot of the things in our society move or get attention is emptiness within humans.
That emptiness has You reaching for that phone when You’re drunk and alone, and calling Your ex.
It is the same emptiness that requires You to grab those pills or the bottle. In order to suffocate the vast hole that is inside You. If only just for a moment.
Or food. One of the most cruelest one of them…
Or TV shows, or parties, or computer games.
But this is not all.
The very same emptiness fuels Your desires for success and achievement.
Filling that void that is screaming for attention.
Now, to be clear, success and achievement are not bad things. These can be really good, and a force for good and humanity in general.
The problem lies within that in-between place of emptiness, achievement, and fullness. And somewhere in the middle of those things is meaning and purpose as well.
How to understand what is what and how to see things more clearly?
The only practice here is presence.
Presence with Yourself, Your emotions, Your feelings, and very importantly, Your thoughts.
Because Your thoughts have the power to fuel Your desires and emotions.
These need to be understood on a deeper level.
What do I mean by this?
You can mind fuck Yourself into doing anything or nothing.
You can convince Yourself that You are worthless or more worthy than others.
You have the capacity to give Yourself feelings that are not there with the power of Your mind.
For example, the famous “I’m ready!” Or, “I’m not ready!”
Either of those can be distorted in whichever way You want and You can convince Yourself that either one of those is true, when it’s actually not the case at all.
What can You as a human being do about this?
Observe them consciously.
See that both sides are actually true. Both extremes can be wrong at each moment in time.
Take action from a place of knowing that because that is a place of powerful humility.
As well as You being ready for either of those.
That’s a place of fullness.
So when You’re grabbing for that phone, stop for a moment. What is going on within Your being that is causing this desire? Is it truthful? Or is it just to mask a feeling?
The “terrible” sensation of not feeling Yourself for a moment…
Ian Altosaar