ARE YOU A VICTIM OF ISOLATION ? " FIVE EASY WAYS TO DEAL WITH ISOLATION "

“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