Lonely people may seek a sense of connection through sexual desire; anxious people may find comfort through food; empty people may gain temporary satisfaction through shopping; stressed people may temporarily escape through games, alcohol, or endlessly scrolling information. In essence, these behaviors are all about people looking for compensation for an inner lack. And truly stable people aren’t those who have no loneliness, anxiety, emptiness, or stress—they’re those who have the ability to be loved and to love themselves, without needing to constantly rely on external stimuli to fill themselves up.