Loneliness

Loneliness is the most powerful motivator for people to develop relationships. Somehow people, including myself, have become intolerant to being lonely. Now, there is a big difference between being alone and being lonely. Being alone is okay and even good for a little down time and refreshing; being lonely is a strong emotion that stems from a lack in emotional connections to someone or something. Now, when I get lonely I look for people to chat with or I go shopping somewhere I will see people I know. Usually just talking to someone for a short time will quench the loneliness, but it isn't a permanent fix. Friends are a great fixer to the loneliness, especially friends you have known forever. Even married couples can feel lonely.

Sometimes I think people get in a rut of working, sleeping and eating; suddenly they wake up and realize they are lonely. Filling your days or nights with activity that is meaningless can put the feeling off but it will come back. Routines we get into make the loneliness worse...maybe I work with 9 other people who I know and talk too but do I really know them or do they really know me? I think people who are able to open-up and make themselves vulnerable can stop the loneliness quicker; those of us who are more guarded have to work at stopping it. A trade-off for being safe I guess.