Hello,
This is Stefania.
Today,
Let's talk about loneliness.
Coping with loneliness.
I had to meditate on this topic for a bit,
And six tips came to mind that might be useful for coping with loneliness and feelings of alienation.
Loneliness is the feeling of being alone whether you're in a crowd or whether you're just by yourself.
It's quite common,
Especially now with the lockdown and social isolation and the social distancing rules.
It's easy to fall into it.
There's a difference,
I think,
Between being alone and being lonely.
If you're alone,
You're fairly content with your company,
With your own company.
But if you're lonely,
You feel like something is missing.
You may feel isolated in yourself.
You may feel sad,
But you don't know why.
Your life might be to all appearances going splendidly,
But in your heart,
You feel like something's missing and you don't know how to find it.
Sometimes,
We try to fill that hole.
We try to fill it in so many ways.
Some of those could show up as symptoms like sadness or boredom,
Apathy,
Or an unidentified feeling of anxiousness or even sleeping too much.
On the other hand,
It could manifest in being overexcited,
Which could look like too much shopping or drinking and so on to fill up that emptiness.
Sometimes,
The feeling of loneliness can turn us against our own selves.
I've experienced that sometimes.
But anyhow,
We think that we're not good enough.
We make up imaginary flaws and faults or exaggerate incidents from our past or current life that could be the cause of our loneliness.
So we've got to get ourselves out of this mess.
Extreme loneliness is not healthy for us mentally,
Spiritually,
Physically,
And emotionally.
Here are a few ideas that came to me to alleviate the feelings of loneliness when it starts to drag your spirit down.
But the first major thing I have to say is if you are really feeling so lonely that you almost feel sick,
It might be best to seek help from a trained professional who can talk to you,
Talk with you,
And help you work through your feelings.
But if the feeling of loneliness is something that comes and goes,
There might be a few self-directed things that you can do.
Here are six tips for trying to overcome loneliness and coping with it.
One is to visit the seaside.
Water can be very healing.
You might still be alone,
But there are most likely people about.
But the main point is that you can sense the openness and expansiveness of the sea,
And you know that you are one with that sea.
You are one with all that surrounds you,
And basically you may be alone,
But virtually you are one with the sea,
The sky,
The plants,
And nature.
You're not alone.
It's just being out in the open air can really help us to clear our minds and feel better.
The second idea,
I think,
We could experience this same feeling of belonging by going to the park or some nature area and just walking and experiencing the beauty of the trees and the changing of the seasons and the feel of the air on our face.
This kind of activity,
I think,
Gets us out of ourselves because we're experiencing the atmosphere around us,
And this can lift our spirits and make us feel quite good.
Third tip,
What else can we do?
We can ask ourselves,
Why do we feel lonely?
We can grab a paper and pen or use an electronic device,
Your tablet,
Your phone,
And write out,
Why do we feel lonely?
What will it take to make us feel not so lonely?
Is it because we want companionship?
Is it because we think our peers are doing way better than we are,
So we feel like we have fallen behind and we just feel lonely because we think we're the only ones in that situation?
Then,
Once you've identified it as best you can,
Try to come up with what is the opposite action that will make us feel fulfilled and lifted,
And then do and work towards that action to the best of our abilities.
Just taking a constructive action could lift our spirits,
Make us feel not so helpless,
Not such a victim.
It could take us out of ourselves and into the energy,
Into the positive energy of what it is that we really want in order to feel better about ourselves.
Step number four,
Another thing that we could do to alleviate the feelings of loneliness is to get into social media in a positive way and look for and find people and groups with like interests.
And don't just be a lurker,
Get involved in the discussions and find those groups that keep things positive and uplifting so that it's fun to join in.
If you find the group brings you down,
If you find the group turns into a pity party,
Get out.
Look for the positive groups that uplift you and make you feel good and you contribute so you make others feel good.
Just one big party.
Number five,
The fifth suggestion to try to combat loneliness is to take some online courses.
Right now it's a bit difficult to go to an actual course in person because of the current social distancing situation,
But online study can be fun and useful as well.
You learn something new and your mind shifts again away from the feeling of only me.
As you get into the thing that you are studying and the new things that you are learning and the challenge of learning it well.
It's like you're distracting yourself in a fun way and learning something in the bargain.
And if it's a course that has discussion groups that accompany the lessons,
That can be a way to meet new people as well.
Number six,
The last idea.
There are also meet up groups that you can join.
Meet up is an app and a website where there are various groups that cover many different interests.
There's groups for socializing,
There's groups for learning new things,
There's groups for discussing business,
Learning languages,
Health,
Spirituality,
All kinds of groups.
And if you get involved in a meet up group,
That's another way to get out digitally at this point in time.
Get out and meet other people and exchange ideas and expand your horizons and have a bit of fun.
Sometimes,
Sometimes the loneliness is very deep.
Sometimes the loneliness is very serious.
But sometimes it's just a faint,
Unidentified sensation.
In those cases,
It's easy to distract yourself away from that by looking at something else,
By doing something else like going to one of these meet up groups,
Taking the course,
Going out in nature.
Sometimes just virtually distracting ourselves and getting involved in something.
So I hope these few ideas can at least get you started on the journey out of a lonely existence.
I've been there in the past and it's not good to hang around there too long.
Just get out.
So do you have any tips on how you shake off that feeling of emptiness or loneliness?
Or maybe you embrace it.
That's no bad thing either.
If it's your choice.
And just remember,
You are good enough.
You are good enough.
You're amazing.
And I send out only the best energy to you.
Until next time.
