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Lonely people

Lonely people are everywhere. All of us need caring people in our lives. But even if you have a wonderful friend or spouse, certain experiences can’t be shared.

Loneliness causes suffering

I met a young man whose only living relative was a brother who never returned his phone calls. Without a job and close friends, he was very depressed. Tragically, he died of a drug overdose.

You are more likely to be lonely if you think that there is nobody out there for you and nobody really cares about you.

Motivational speaker and author Earl Nightingale (1927-1989) used to tell the following story …

A couple, she tired of the cold weather, he wanting to be able to fish year round, moved from Minnesota to a house across the street from him in Florida.

Several months went by.

Then, one day he noticed the couple was packing up to leave. Nightingale walked across the street and asked the man why they were leaving.

The man told him they were moving because his wife "hates it here."

After a few questions as to why, the man revealed the reason his wife was so unhappy in her new neighborhood:

"She hasn't been accepted here," he said. "The other women in the community have left her strictly alone. She's made no friends. She hasn't been asked to participate in any of the community activities."

Nightingale thought for a moment and asked if she had let people know that she's interested in taking part in community activities.

The man thought for a moment and said, "No, she's been waiting for them to ask."

Nightingale's reason for telling this story is to demonstrate that, in life, whatever actions, feelings, or moods we convey to the world will be mirrored back to us.

He adds that while the women in the community should have reached out to the man's wife, they didn't because they thought she was reclusive. They thought she was someone who was not interested in making friends.

The community was giving her back a reflection of herself.

Don't wait for someone else to meet your needs

Telephone or visit your parents, family or friends.
Find ways to help lonely people and you will feel better.
Look for relatives or friends who may live alone and are lonely. Have a regular night out to meet and talk or go for a show or a meal.

Get involved in new, healthy activities

Join a fitness club; eat a better diet.
Volunteer, or take a course.
Push yourself and get started.

Look here for more help.

Loneliness from a broken relationship

Get rid of reminders of your past relationship.
Put on a brave face and keep busy.
Turn to prayer to get through this difficult period.

“The one thing in life you can’t afford is to feel sorry for yourself.”
(Father Kerr, a Catholic priest who became blind)

Why am I here?

Use your loneliness to seek God

Loneliness is often God’s way of telling us to spend some time alone with Him. Quiet Time is the meeting place. We discover that God is more intently searching for us than we are for Him. We find that in the depths of our heart Jesus is waiting for us.

When you feel lonely or discouraged, try to attend morning Mass and pray to Jesus before the Blessed Sacrament.
Tell Jesus of your loneliness. Ask Him to stay close to you.
Jesus hears your cries. With prayer, your pain will pass. Remind yourself that you are never alone. Jesus is always with you.

Jesus can use your pain to help you be a more understanding person.

Loneliness may be the cross that Jesus asks you to carry

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Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while. Mark 6:31

SBI!