Lonely

I was in spin class trying to distract myself. The TV was on and flashed a statistic about loneliness. The stat showed that half of those my age and younger considered themselves lonely. Half. Half of the people 40ish and under feel lonely. In a world more connected than ever before, this stat astonished me.

I know we have an epidemic in our country: an epidemic of loneliness, depression, and the lot of mental health. I guess I didn’t realize this many people, however, felt lonely. And not just lonely here and there. Lonely all the time.

I wonder if our loneliness isn’t bad. Let me explain. We are programmed to think that everyone is with someone all the time. We feel connected with people when we are looking at our phones but the moment we put them down and look up, we realize we are alone. We have grown accustomed to always having someone around. A need has developed and I am curious if that need is unnecessary.

Luke tells us in chapter five of the book with his name that Jesus withdrew often to be alone. (https://biblehub.com/luke/5-16.htm ) Being alone was a gift for Jesus. Why can’t it be a gift for us?

Loneliness isn’t always a bad thing. Loneliness can be a gift. How can you, how can I, relearn that loneliness (being alone) isn’t always a bad thing.

One of the best things I started doing recently was turning everything off. When I’m in the car, I turn the radio off. When I find myself home alone, I don’t turn on music, a podcast, or the TV. Let me tell you that the silence, while deafening at first, has become a place of rest and reprieve from a very loud world. It rejuvenates and energizes me lowering the anxiety.

I think it is time we relearn how to be alone. Jesus saw the value in removing himself from the crowd. So should we.

Take some time today to be alone. I bet you won’t find loneliness to be such a bad thing.

Love & Blessings,

Meg