Wholeness. Everyone wants that deep-down feeling of peace, joy, and satisfaction. But I suspect most of us wrestle with “holes” in our wholeness. And we’re trying desperately to fill them. Google “consumerism” and you’ll get over 3 million hits. Perhaps we’re trying to buy what can only come from within. My colleague Steve Salt, writing for the June 3, 2015 edition of Fifty is the New Fifty, sheds some light on five keys “wholeness” blockers and how we can overcome them. Here’s Steve: 

What’s missing? No, not your keys… or your phone.

There are moments when you suspect deep down you’re not whole, when you feel you have somehow misplaced a portion of your soul. Nothing is clicking, joy seems a stretch or you’re just going through the motions in a haze of detachment.

And you’re not sure what to do about it or that it is worth the effort to figure out. For that matter, there is doubt that what you’re experiencing is even valid. I’ve had those misgivings. I’ve also found success in challenging subtle feelings of personal inadequacy and experiencing fresh inspiration, fulfillment and presence. Wholeness comes when I take the time to look honestly at myself, all of me. Hear me out.

Most of us have become pretty adept at selfies on Instagram and writing a life narrative on Facebook and proclaiming, “This is me!” Not even close. There is so much more to individuality than the smiling face at the end of a selfie stick and the posting of the latest conquests on a timeline. Each of us is an intensely complex and uniquely elegant creation.