I used to feel that emptiness. Now I run my own business, am active in community endeavors and assist with a lot of rescue work. Each of these responsibilities has strengthened me and I have a sense of meaning in what I do every day.

Taking ownership of something, however large or small, but making it *your* responsibility instead of someone else's is a huge antidote to emptiness.

It sounds like you have a lot of people looking after you. The fantasy of taking care of them might be a healthy impulse. We're not supposed to remain dependent forever. We're supposed to grow and take care of ourselves and the world around us.

People who are either deprived of that by illness, or don't take that step out of fear or something else are usually plagued by emptiness and depression. This is another reason why I don't like therapy at times. I think it can perpetuate a Neverneverland idea about remaining a child to be looked after by professionals forever. And even though people in that state are almost always miserable, they also cling to it because of the promise of something that might feel good. All these fantasies about therapists being people's mothers and fathers, etc. That's no accident, and it will never happen. All it does is trap the client in a juvenile mindset, sometimes well into the twilight years of their lives.

Is there something in your life you could do for someone else? Is there a meaningful task you could undertake which you would have to work at, and would make a difference? Even the smallest things, if built on, make a difference.