In the Buddhist tradition, a “Preta” is described as a hungry ghost. It is someone who died without having satisfied his or her extravagant desires. They may literally be someone who denied food to someone else because of their own strong hunger—or someone who died “hungry” for love, success or some other great need.

The ghosts remain hungry for eternity, because they can no longer eat—their desire or hunger is now perpetual and cannot be satisfied.

The Buddhists caution us that the problem begins long before death.

Have you ever felt unsatisfied, or unfilled for an extended period of time? Do you “long” for success in business or “pine away” for that perfect relationship? These are some of the ways to describe the hungry ghost. It is a description of one who has forgotten how to be satisfied.

The good news is that we can reverse this problem. We don’t have to end up a hungry ghost. In fact, there are quite a few things we can do about this.

We can start feeling full again! God freely gives everything we could want or need. Whether we wish for love or success, more joy or abundance, God is willing to provide. To stop the hungry feeling, we can focus on what we already have. When we are grateful for what we have, the hunger subsides. By using a gratitude journal or by consciously noticing our blessings we can begin to feel filled up once again. We focus on the love (or success or joy) that we already have instead of what appears to be missing. The more we are grateful, the more we will have to be grateful for!

We can start understanding what “enough” is. Many of us may have an exaggerated notion of what we need to feel sufficiently happy with life. Think of Thanksgiving: we eat and we eat and we eat—but at some point another bite isn’t better; it’s just too much. This happens when we forget what enough feels like. Perfectionists, in particular, lose sight of the idea of “good enough” and are hard to satisfy. We can address this issue by defining what is “success” or what is “a loving relationship” and consciously let go of our desire to go past the point of sufficiency.

We can focus on the now. In each moment we can feel satisfied. Satisfaction isn’t helpful if we’re just remembering it from the past. It’s equally elusive when we dream of it as being in the future (that’s the hungry ghost). We can evaluate what’s going on right now and call it good. We can choose to find the happiness and the good in what’s right before us. This takes some conscious choosing—but it is available. When we focus on the now, we can find happiness in the moment and feel complete.

Have you taken an inventory of your life lately? Do you feel satisfied? Is there some part of your life that has never been what you would like it to be? Does happiness of some sort always feel elusive?

Examine yourself for elements of the “Hungry Ghost.” If you find them, get to work! Everyone deserves (and can have) the goodness that God so willingly provides. With a little effort, we can turn the hungry ghost into a satisfied and loving human being.