“Isolation”
the word itself brings a shudder down our spine. We generally tend to associate
the feeling of being isolated, loneliness as some kind of mental disease. Especially
in today’s jet paced pragmatic life, talking about isolation and loneliness has
become a taboo. You might feel inferior when you talk about your feelings of
isolation, as you may not find people in the same rhythm. You may come across
people who are totally ambitious, running after wealth and prospering in their career.
So, it may seem futile to talk to people because you may think that they have
never been on your shoes. But the problem here doesn't lie with
the people around us. It’s within us. Well, we shouldn't be ashamed of our
inner feelings. There is no harm in feeling lonely or isolated, every one of us
experience loneliness from time to time. Now a question occurs. How do we know
that we are experiencing loneliness? Well, our feelings are a direct transmitter
of our emotions. For e.g.: Think of your birthday celebration, with the person
you love most in your life. Now check your feelings; your happiness will be at its
peak, you will experience a deep sense of satisfaction and contentment. Now
reverse the scenario, imagine a situation when the person you love most, misses
your birthday and even forgets to wish you. Now re-check your feeling, you
probably will be oozing with sadness and disappointments. Loneliness comes not necessarily when
you're alone, but when you feel as if you don't have someone who really knows
you and supports you.
Tormented childhood,
bullying by mates, facing ragging during school and college days, break-ups,
abusive relationships and marriages, facing constant failures in life, isolation and solitude during old age may be the reasons for experiencing
“ISOLATION” in life.
Loneliness causes people to feel empty,
alone and unwanted – common symptoms of loneliness.
One may have a negative
attitude toward relationships.
·
Waking up every morning
with a feeling of sadness and going off to bed with a same sad feeling.
· The reason of your
sadness lingers on your brain 24x7. No matter how hard you try to avoid those
thoughts cropping in your mind; it’s persistent and very stubborn and refuses
to leave your mind.
·
Crying and sobbing
helplessly for hours.
·
Losing focus, ambitions
and zest to work.
·
Feeling of despair
about your friendships.
·
Feeling sad about lack of friends.
·
Feelings of anger when
other people are happy.
·
The general feeling
that you aren't part of "the crowd" or "a group."
·
Feeling as if you
aren't accepted in the world.
Feeling as if you are "too different" to have friends
The
sooner you identify your problems of isolation, the better J
Now,
let me give you a brief idea on what we mostly do, to overcome loneliness. We literally push ourselves into world
of activity. Keeping ourselves busy becomes the
ultimate motto of our life. We throw ourselves into work, we may even think, “I
want to be so busy that I shouldn't have time even to breathe also.” And, what
most of us might experience when we dive into series of activities is that we
may feel happy and changed due to certain new activities, for first few days.
But after few days you might experience those suppressed feelings of yours’
attacking you viciously and crippling your confidence totally. The change will
be short-lived because all this while what you try to do is suppress your
feelings into the bondage of work. Perhaps, this is because you don’t want to
slow down enough to fully realize how lonely you are. (Relax friends; I know keeping
ourselves busy can help us overcome our loneliness to some extent. But, if you
don’t want to give yourself time to breath, how will you live? ).
Please,
don’t live a mechanical life. You should realize the ill effects of constantly
agonizing yourself. You may be the victim of depression. You may want to seek
relief through drug addiction and alcohol.You should totally avoid such kind
of circumstances in your life. Just because you had to experience something bad
and tormenting in your life, doesn't mean that you will stop living. Friends, I will guide
you through “5 easy ways to deal with isolation”.
JOIN A COURSE-
Enroll yourself for some profession or vocational course. The major benefit of
it is that you are exposed to a stringent time table. That leaves less time for
you to wander your thoughts in negative directions. Joining a class exposes you
to group of people and help you inculcate the bond of friendships with fellow
class mates. Joining a class gives you a purpose and new direction to your life
along with the feeling of self-worth.
MAKE NEW FRIENDS AND RE-ESTABLISH THE LOST CAMARADERIE WITH
YOUR OLD BUDDIES -True
friends can come as a savior at times of loneliness. You may be surrounded by
many friends, yet you may feel lonely (let me give you an example; it’s like
being in a musical theatre without hearing and feeling the melody. Life is also
like that; you may be surrounded by scores of friends but if you cannot connect
to them you won’t able to share your feelings and enjoy your bond). So, make an
effort to deepen your connections with your friends and family members.
GET A PET –Get a pet; a dog or a cat. Getting
a pet is a great way to shoo away loneliness from your life. Your new addition
to your family will brighten up your life and keep you on your heels :D. You
will be left to discover new traits and mood swings of your new pet, leaving
you overwhelmed and happy from within.
Besides, pets provide you their unconditional and selfless love which comes as
a healing balm for loneliness.
VOLUNTEER – you can choose to volunteer for a
cause you believe in. The cause will link you to many new people. Where, you
can meet people who share at least one of your interests. Be a part of group
activities and services. Low self-esteem is one of the major symptoms that
loneliness accompanies with it. Being a part of a cause will in fact give boost
your confidence and fill you with contentment. Moreover serving people who are
less privileged than you will help you to value what
you have in life.
YOU CAN FIND FRIENDS ONLINE-
In today’s virtual world one can look for support online. You may not know your
neighbour living next door, but will be connected to unknown persons living
miles away from you. All thanks to the magic of the internet J. You can find
lasting friendship and real support from people you meet online. You can even
create community page online and add your friends and folks which may serve as loneliness fighter and give you some new zest in life.
However you should be very cautious as to whom you share your personal
information over the internet.
Hello
friends, I hope my article will help you. If you like my article, feel free to
share it J. Your
comments and opinions are heartily welcomed; you can even drop in your feedback and messages in my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ExploringMyLittleWorld91. I love to hear from you all J. Until than love
yourself, stay healthy and spread happiness. Bye tk cr J
