Transformation; The Power to Overcoming Loneliness
I remember that day vividly. It is always as near as yesterday or even today. I remember that day because of its recurrence. The feeling of void and emptiness smelt all over the room. Everywhere I walked seemed nonexistent. But then one thing happened and everything changed.
The day before, I slept with many memories flashing through my mind. I reached out to my photo album and decided to have a look at my journey. Every photo I looked at rekindled my bitter-sweet memories that cascaded the short ‘decorated’ life I have had on this earth.
At some point, I smiled faintly at friendships that painted the beauty of my every day back then that had gained value and become the antiques of my present. They didn’t exist in a way but meant everything at their time. I missed those moments indeed.
However, the reality of that present then and even today points to a life of solitude. The source of loneliness. I picked myself up and in ‘spirit’ went to the Serengeti National Park. In the very middle and most remote of places, I crash-landed there.
For a moment, I felt the pain of the brokenness inside of me and the fact that I could do nothing. I could not feel myself so to say. In the daylight, I felt safe and feared nothing because, at the very least, I had the power of sight. It was possible to make out ways to adapt to that new environment.
But when the night slowly crept in, I realized I was indeed alone. The danger was all over and lurking around me. I needed to stay put and fight to survive. But what would I fight with when I was there with nothing, absolutely nothing worth of defense?
Losing hope sounded like the best option. Two questions kept lingering in my mind, what if I lost hope? What if I did not? The biggest difference would be made by the answer to these questions. If I lost hope, that would be the end of me. If I held on to hope, it meant I had chances for the morrow. I decided to go with the latter.
That was my transformational point. As I slowed and carefully returned to the present, I discovered that my mind was the greatest asset I had only if I harnessed it properly. On the other hand, it would be the greatest liability if I decided otherwise.
Within the mind, I further discovered the fuel that ensured the mind was running through after ignition. The mindset. Since then, it is the mindset that became the core of my transformation. Every time I feel lonely, I harness the power of the mindset to stay put.
It is normal to feel lonely however weird it may sound because we live in an overpopulated world but one filled with a lot of urgencies. It can be hard to forge meaningful connections from time to time but having that positive mindset can keep one going.
When it seems like the loneliness is taking a toll on you, the lessons I picked from ‘crashing landing in the Serengeti’ can help you. In other words, it is important to slow down and harness the power within to over the feeling of loneliness. It is also important to note that often, there could be some social treasures around us that we can tap into.
To overcome loneliness, especially in new environments, one has to go beyond the fear of rejection and the unknown to forge new connections. The truth however remains that of the thousand connections we will make, only a handful will turn into lifelong friendships.
Those few ones will mean the insurance to us in the future such that we will have a face to turn to should loneliness come knocking on our doors. Becoming meaningful to ourselves and our friends requires effort and the realization that, those social care and peer support are two-way. We get it, and we are expected to give it in return.
Finally, becoming transformed to overcome loneliness requires a lot of self-care. I should not overemphasize the value of a good diet and exercise. A good diet often translates to a healthy mind and that in turn means having the mental power to face the unpleasant feelings of loneliness and overcome them.
Loneliness tends to translate itself psychologically to mean unlikeable, unvalued, and meaningless. It takes a lot of psychological willpower to attain positivity in such as sea of negativity. A sober healthy mind makes all the difference.
Always remember that you matter, you are good enough and you are loved. Finally, in the words of the great physicist Albert Einstein, you are living. You occupy space. You have a mass. You matter. If anything, from the whole of today’s article, take this last paragraph with you.
