We do not combust, it's true. I would feel less vulnerable if I did not feel so close to snuffing out. Seek for the heat and not the flame. A rock does not burn but it does not snuff out as you say. The burning man yearns for the water, the deep still water.
Air can yearn for the fire, water can yearn for the fire, earth can yearn for the fire.
Your pain and yearning are the part of life desiring the whole, they are your life expressing its urge to completeness. Seek your nature in relation to what you lack.