3 Tips If You Feel Something Is Missing In Your Life.
If you feel like something is missing, you’re not alone!
Since publishing the blog, What Does It Mean If You Feel Something Is Missing In Your Life, I’ve received emails and comments from people worldwide who sense something is missing. If you haven’t read the blog, perhaps that’s an excellent place to start.
I wrote the blog because I struggled with it several years ago. The nagging feeling of soul hunger catalyzed me on a soul-searching journey to understand myself.
It was a very confusing time because I had so much to be grateful for, yet something was still missing.
The feeling that something is missing is a symptom arising from our true self or soul.
Many people have asked me to share tips if you feel something is missing. Here are three tips that you may find helpful:
1. Develop a healthy relationship with yourself.
This is perhaps the most challenging step because it means taking responsibility for your life. You’re shifting your awareness and energy onto yourself and your own life. You’re acknowledging that you need to get to know your innermost self, and that’s never comfortable.
It’s also the most challenging step because no one can do the work for you.
It’s not like going to a chiropractor for a quick adjustment or a massage therapist to work out some muscular tension. It’s a profound journey that only you can take.
It starts with shifting your attention inward for a while—letting go of the need to control your life’s outer circumstances.
It doesn’t mean that the outer things in your life won’t need to change; it just means you’re putting that aside to learn how to have a better relationship with yourself.
It means you need to learn how to deal with your stress from the inside out, deal with your emotions in healthy ways, release toxic emotions like resentment, practice self-love and self-compassion, develop healthy boundaries, release limiting conditioned beliefs from the past, embrace your masculine/feminine energy, and begin to feel grounded, peaceful and balanced on the inside.
Developing a healthy relationship with yourself goes a long way toward addressing the feeling that something is missing.
It often requires the help of others who can serve as guides and mentors to help you process and integrate your past, be more present in your current life and develop a vision for your future best self.
Many people on the path of personal and spiritual development have been drawn to meditation practices because they give them the tools to turn inward and begin to develop healthier relationships with themselves.
If you haven’t already, I recommend you begin a simple meditation practice.
In the post, With So Many Choices, What Is The Best Type Of Meditation For Me? I share some tips about where to begin and why it’s essential if you feel something is missing. It also includes a 10-minute recording of a core practice.
If you already have a meditation practice and have learned how to calm your body and mind, that’s amazing! It’s a tool and training that will serve you for the rest of your life.
Meditation, while being a vital tool for the seekers’ toolkit, does have its limitations.
Others and I have found that after we’ve settled our nervous systems, developed skills in working with our minds and emotions, and healed our inner child experiences, we reach a plateau in our growth.
Just as we thought we’d finally arrived, the universe decided to shake things up again by giving us the inner knowing that we’re ready for the next stage of our development.
A stage that involves envisioning and stepping into the next version of yourself- your true self!
2. Envision and evolve into your true self.
While meditation and mindfulness enable us to develop a better relationship with ourselves, they don’t give us the whole picture or a path forward to becoming our true selves.
It provides a solid foundation to build a house, but it isn’t the house itself.
How do you build a house that represents your true self?
As I began to wonder about this, I was introduced to the Enneagram of personality.
The Enneagram, a spiritually-based personality typing system, lets us see what our meditation practices can’t. A deeper understanding of what is required to embody our true selves, where we fully thrive in all aspects of our lives.
The Enneagram has been described as an awareness accelerator. It helps us determine our unique growth path and envision our true selves.
As we get closer to our true selves, the feeling that something is missing is replaced with deep inner peace and alignment.
This alignment between our inner world and how it’s expressed in the outer world is further facilitated by learning how to go with the flow of life and be open to receiving messages about our path.
3. Harness the power of the universe to guide your next steps.
Another tool for your toolkit would be a straightforward practice that invites the Universe/Divine/God/Life force or whatever you call “it” to assist you and show you your next step.
You’re not meant to have it all figured out before you start. You only need to open yourself up to the next step.
To assist with this, you ask for signs from the universe. You’ll find that your meditation practice creates a fertile environment within yourself to receive the signals. You then take the next step.
How do you harness the power of the universe?
This is where a gratitude or prayer practice is helpful.
As someone who identifies as spiritual but not religious, I didn’t learn how to pray. And in many ways, I’m grateful for that as I have developed a way to connect with that life force energy that feels right for me.
Simple prayers to support your journey might be:
Please show me what my next step might be.
Please give me a sign.
Please help me to surrender to the uncertainty.
Please give me the strength to take the next step.
Please provide me with a guide or the support that I need.
The truth is that the transformation process takes time and a hefty dose of humility. It requires a commitment to your soul to do the “work” and your spiritual practices.
It asks that we develop patience, self-compassion, and trust that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
It involves stripping away your conditioned self so your true self emerges.
And as you learn to connect more deeply with yourself, others, and the mysteries of life, that sense that something is missing slowly diminishes. And then, one day, you wake up and realize that you’ve come home to your true self and don’t feel like anything is missing.
If you feel called, please leave a comment below. Our community would love to hear from you!
Hi Bev, I feel like I’ve been at a point where I felt something was missing for a while now. Certain life circumstances have come up where I’m trying to figure this out but also in need of finding a job to support myself. I’m continually hurting my job hunt progress because I don’t know what it is I want that will help me feel like I’m not missing something. Is this work that can be done while also still chugging along with a 9 to 5?
Hi Sara,
Thanks so much for the great question about whether you can do the work and still chug along with your 9 to 5. It’s such a beautiful example of how our day to day life gives us the opportunity to grow personally and spiritually. In terms of the job hunt it sounds like you have an inner knowing that you need to support yourself. What I’ve found over the years is that I’ve been in a lot of jobs that felt like something was missing and yet without having the experience from the job I wouldn’t have learned what I do want. It’s like we have to discern both what we don’t want and also what we do want. We also can’t figure out what’s “missing” until we’re in the job and/or relationship. This then provides an opportunity for growth and self-discovery. So, yes absolutely you can do the work while you’re doing your 9 to 5 job. And in fact you likely need the 9 to 5 to both support yourself AND to show you were the work needs to be. Hope that makes sense. I’m sending you energy to pursue your job hunt without the need to have it all figured out. Love, Bev.
Hi. The fact that I found your site was a clear first sign for me. It made me very emotional with mixed emotions from sad for my soul abs happy and excited to reach to my soul. I thought it was a menopause thing, that I am feeling so unsure and questioning my point of being here. I am going to try some meditation and quiet time to be kinder to my soul. Thank you.
Hi Debra,
I’m so glad that this post found you! Feeling unsure and questioning the point of being here is a significant sign that you’re shifting and being invited to “awaken” to your deeper self. That’s great that you’re going to try an inner practice, like meditation and create space for quiet time so you can connect with what wants to arise. Thank you for sharing here! Love, Bev
Hi Bev,
Beautiful articles. Would you also share some next steps in how overcome / “solve” the problem with missing meaningful relationship. I’ve grown so much over the last year and thereby outgrown all my friendships – so much that I feel mostly misunderstood or “not seen” by them anymore. (Additionally many of them are not willing to grow their selves…)
I think that is by far the hardest thing to solve in the self awareness process because it involves others.
How do you / your clients cope with the “not to be seen / not to be understood by their (entire) friend circle symptoms. For me, I miss it so much that no one “just” understands and see me… thank you ??
Hi Sabrina,
Thank you so much for your very powerful and meaningful reflection. You have described what happens for many people who are growing and evolving and getting a sense that they are outgrowing their friendships. You are definitely not alone in feeling this as I hear from people around the world about how challenging this is. There is that period of time when we feel we’ve outgrown certain relationships and yet haven’t formed new ones where we DO feel seen, understood and like we have travel companions that nourish our souls.
It is often a lonely time and there is a sense of loss and grief that goes along with lovingly letting some people go in order to create space for friendships that have yet to emerge.
The way I have coped and helped my clients to cope is by practicing self-compassion and reminding myself that new friendships are on the horizon. I also let the “Universe” know that I am ready for new people to come into my life and then let go and trust that it will happen. I also want you to know that I see you, and understand how difficult this is. You are not alone and your courage to grow is an inspiration to many!!!! Much love, Bev