Fighting Loneliness One Idea At A Time

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Sometimes it might be wiser to stop "fighting it." Loneliness can be a call for us to go inward and find that part of ourselves that we have ignored for too long. Like the symptom of an illness, it tries to get our attention by making us feel uncomfortable. When we find, empower, and welcome the spirit within us it becomes impossible to be lonely.

Say it out loud: “I am lonely." Ironically, speaking the forbidden words can deepen relationships and expose the wealth of support already available to you. The shame of being lonely--the stereotypical image of an outcast who has done something to create his or her lonely state--is so much more painful than the simple human unavoidable truth that you, like countless people before you, are lonely. It passes. It is survivable. It even gifts you with the ability to see loneliness in others and reach out to them. Choose your audience wisely and then speak the truth. Believe me, they have been lonely too.
--Ti, Winston-Salem, N.C.

My suggestion for loneliness is just to accept that it will be a part of your life young or old. It is no respecter of age. When you encounter it, look at it as an opportunity to grow. To learn to do something to fill the spaces you find in your life. Do something you have always wanted to do, go somewhere you always wanted to go. Don't say, “Well, I don't have the money." There are ways to find that pathway of life which leads to fulfillment in a different way. What loneliness brings is a change of thinking from the head to the heart.
--Vickie, Albion, R.I.

Continued on page 3: 'Donate food at a food back and help to hand it out.' »