Do you ever feel as if something is missing in your life? If so, you’re normal. But in my book (and in life) normal is not often healthy. It’s also normal to try and fill the empty spaces with material things or some other form of external stimulus.
But it’s likely that your need is not physiological; it’s a higher need, such as love, self-esteem or self-actualization. For this reason, I enlist the help of Abraham Maslow in an entire chapter of book, where I share is primary ideas and how his studies of self-actualized people can help break the trend of normalcy.
“Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What humans can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization.”
Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality
You may recall Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is often illustrated in the form of a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid are the basic physiological needs of food, shelter and clothing. Once these needs are met, humans must have the higher needs of love, self-esteem and self-actualization to feel fulfilled in life.
Most of us are fortunate enough to have something to eat, clothes on our back, and a place to call home. When we feel that something is missing, it’s common to try and fill the empty space with bigger, better or newer food, shelter and clothing. But this is not what you need.
When something is missing, it’s likely that you need to be self-actualized. This is a major theme in my book.
Please feel to start a conversation in comments.
