A phrase by an Australian writer really grabbed my attention recently. In telling why he enrolled in one self-development course after another over a period of years, he said he was driven by "a core of uneasiness."

I had always thought it was the big crises of life that made people change. You know—accidents, catastrophic illnesses, deaths, divorces and job losses The heavy stuff. But here’s a guy driven by "a core of uneasiness" to spend big bucks and a lot of time trying to open up a little sunshine crack in his cave.

We have all faced some of life’s big blows. Once I was fired with two kids in college and just weeks later, divorced. A double whammy. I never could do things half-way.

I know about that "core of uneasiness" thing, too. Like the Aussie, I also went out of town for one of those "change your life forever" seminars. No big problems in my life at the time, just a psychic itch I didn’t know how to scratch.

We may not have the exact career we want but we have learned to live with it and the only price we are paying for is that core of uneasiness. We may not have the boy or girl of our dreams but we have Ole What’s His/Her Name and he/she ain’t half bad and it’s all working out pretty good—except for that little core of uneasiness.

At such times, what are we really longing for? Is it a need for more meaning in our existence? The great mythologist, Joseph Campbell, said he thought there was something more important to us than meaning. After studying all the religions of the world, he described the primary goal of spiritual seekers as the need to feel "the rapture of being alive."

Ever notice something? When you’re in that rapture of being alive, there is no core of uneasiness! That’s why Campbell urged his students to pursue their bliss, to do the work and be with the people that brought down the glory of being alive.

I call this "The Worth Lillard Whee Factor." Several decades ago he started coming to hear my band. Sometimes he’d get up and do his memorable, crowd-pleasing version of "Good Hearted Woman." Absolutely nobody can sing "Good Hearted Woman" like Worth Lillard. When he got into things just right, he would yell "WHEE!" and turn loose rolls of laughter that could cure he Devil of hiccups. .

I taped a show we did at the Quarterdeck in Panama City Beach.and after his rousing rendition of "Good Hearted Woman," he wheed all the way from the stage to his seat. I wouldn’t take a hundred dollar bill for the sheer ecstasy uncorked on that tape.

That’s exactly what we all must find, in our own way, in our work and play, in our loves and friendships if we are to live our lives without a haunting, deadening, disempowering core of uneasiness.

If you are in a rut it will take some rapture to pole vault you out of there. You can take all those little personality and occupational tests, and sit for endless hours with the best counselors but if something doesn’t crank up your "whee wheel," you are going to remain in your rut. And the only difference in a rut and a grave is the location of the dirt.

Part of our core of uneasiness is our fear of really being who we are. It is not always easy to remain true to who you really are at the center of your soul in a world where we must constantly "read for parts" in the ever-changing scenarios of our lives. We shave off little pieces of ourselves for people we think we must please and we burn them on the altar of approval. We let social pressures sandpaper away our beautiful rough edges and it’s in your rough edges that you will find your soul.

If it doesn’t move you, don’t do it. If it’s someone else’s song, don’t sing it. It’s better for you to be eating a bologna sandwich and drinking spring water from a pork and bean can than to sell who you are for who you never did want to be in the first place.