Exploring solitude
We tend to see solitude as grim and imprisoning. But in fact, the exact opposite can be true. Solitude can be seen as freeing, as an opportunity for exploration and growth.
It’s good for us to spend time exploring unknowns by ourselves. It gives us an opportunity to discover who we really are and what life is all about.
MORE IDEAS FROM THE ARTICLE
Many of us will go to great lengths to distract ourselves with anything and everything: food, booze, shopping, television, tabloid news, online social networks, video games, phones etc.
Acknowledging this is the first step to healing it. So begin right now by just breathing, alone, and noticing with curiosity, and without judgment, all of the little ways you can simply BE in your own skin, right here, right now, in this present moment we call life.
Everyone you care about does NOT need to support every decision you make.
Even if things don’t turn out as you anticipated, at least you will learn what you needed to learn, and you won’t have to spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been.
The trouble is not always in being alone – it’s being lonely in the presence of others.
It’s always better to be alone than to be in bad company. And when you do decide to come back for someone, do so because you’re truly better off with this person. Don’t do it just for the sake of not being alone.
It’s always better to learn to stand on your own two legs. And once you are self-sufficient, then relying on someone else from time to time is an act of strength, not weakness.
Take small, consistent steps in the right direction, day in and day out.
Learning to be comfortable with being alone does not mean you can’t be in a relationship. It means that you will not be codependent and entitled.
What we need is a healthy dose of self-sufficiency. The greatest gift you can give somebody is your own personal development.
RELATED IDEAS
Being alone and, therefore, forced to face our own thoughts, can prove rather disturbing. People need other people to feel well: being sociable is not anymore just a skill to develop, it is a mere condition of our existence. However, learning how to feel well while being alone is another skill at least as important.
We think of solitude in terms of remote cabins or mountain tops. But the real key to solitude is to step away from reacting to the output of other minds: be it listening to a podcast, scanning social media, reading a book, watching TV or holding an actual conversation.
Our inner Demons, or inner voices, make us do irrational, stupid and selfish things, based out of fear.
We hide and distract ourselves from our inner voice, which is nothing but our fear and insecurities, talking to us.