Do you want to know the best things you can do if you are feeling lonely?
“The Best Things To Do If You Are Feeling Lonely”, is a blog that will give you personal tips on how to over come loneliness. But before that, let me ask you a question.
Do you have any idea what it means to feel lonely?
Maybe you are feeling lonely right now that’s why you landed on my blog. If so, I would love to give you my personal perspective about feeling lonely. I will also give you the steps I took on how I handled my lonely moments. Let’s call this blog “The Best Things To Do If You Are Feeling Lonely”.
I did and sometimes it could be the best thing you can give to yourself. I was then able to prove that
“Being alone has the power very few people can understand”.
So, what does it really mean to feel lonely? I’ll tell you what based on my experience.
Feeling lonely or “loneliness” is a normal experience. If left unchecked, it can be bad for our total well being. It can affect our emotional and physical health. There was a study that says, feeling lonely is as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Whether you seldom feel a little lonely when you’re at home by yourself or you experience an extreme loneliness that never goes away, it’s important to address loneliness in a healthy way. Here are the best things to do if you’re feeling lonely. Please be aware that these are plainly my personal tips and have taken these actions to address my situation. Okay let’s hop into it.
1. Identify and Acknowledge the Feeling of Loneliness
- Stop trying to battle the idea if you’re lonely or not. The main fact you asked yourself if you are lonely is already a sign that you are. Do not worry. Many of us are experiencing that. Good thing right now is that you are able to identify that you are in that state. Acknowledge it. Do not ignore. The fact that you are feeling lonely proves that you are human. Do not equate yourself as a weak person just because you are lonely.
Studies have found that labeling your feelings can reduce the intensity of them. So simply putting a name to loneliness might help your brain make sense of how you’re feeling and instantly help you feel a little less lonely.
2. Identify the reasons for your loneliness
- Sometimes all you need to do is to give yourself time to identify the reason for your loneliness. May it be because you feel you don’t have friends or are not able to connect with others. Or maybe because you don’t have the job of your dreams. It can also be because of failures in life that you can’t get over with. The list can go on. Whatever is the reason for your loneliness, figure it out and we’re ready for the next step.
3. Develop a specific and realistic plan
- I like making plans, but what I love the best is developing specific and realistic plans. Let’s say for example the reason for your loneliness is losing your job. You felt that you were devalued as a staff and you ended up getting fired. This is very common right now due to the pandemic we all are facing. Now it’s time for you to make a plan.
- Plan A- “I will look for a job.”
- Plan B- ” I will look for a better job, in a better company where staff like me is valued and appreciated.”
- Just take a look at how these 2 plans are different. Do you see the possibility of what’s going to happen for each plan you might make? Plan A is realistic yet not specific. If you plan this way, the tendency is, you will encounter again the feeling of loneliness in a matter course of time. However, if you look at Plan B, not only that it is realistic. It is also specific. Making a plan like this and putting it into action is the best thing you can do if you’re feeling lonely. Taking Plan B will lead you to a path that avoids reason for you to feel lonely again. Just remember, we are developing a plan that can heal us from loneliness. Make sure they are realistic and specific. You should also be able to foresee the results of the plan you are about to make. Once you’ve made your plan, then we’re ready for the next step.
4. Connect or reconnect with people you think have made you feel great
- Sometimes we meet people along the way and may tend to forget the friends we used to have. We get too excited f we happen to meet new people and consider them as friends. During the lowest moments of my life there was never a point I was thinking about talking to my newly met “friends”. I remember vividly how I reconnected to those people I used to be with like 5years or longer back. I met them and had our catching up chats and it made me feel less lonely. I guess the feeling you will get if you do this is the sense of belongingness.
Catching up with people in the past is one of the best things you can do if you’re lonely. It can give you a refreshing feeling and looking back on your old memories together can be fun and funny?
- So grab your phone now and ask an old friend “ How have you been? Shall we meet and catch up?”. Believe me, sometimes you just need this to overcome your loneliness.
5. Join a special class or a community
- These day, joining a club or a community are mainly for personal healing purposes. I used to recall, before of you are joining an event its mostly for fun entertainment. These days, people do it because we know that it has a positive effect on our well being. It gives us a sense of belongingness. If you notice here in Journey4Us, we also want everyone to feel that they belong here.
We aim to make a bolder and louder campaign about our vision. That is to open a community that is happy and healthy for everyone. A space where we all can find a sense of belongingness.
- That’s why if you are reading this, we welcome you here. We do connect to people honestly and personally. If you want to be an official member of Journey4Us, sign this for up now. We are gathering pioneers and ViP members at the moment. We are definitely the community that is perfect for you! We do our best here to make everyone feel alive and appreciated.
Okay, that’s a little segway. I got carried away! Let’s proceed to the next step.
6. Start a hobby
- Okay what is really a hobby? Hobby is an activity done regularly during leisure time for pleasure. Do you have one? Maybe that’s why you are lonely. In my case, my blogging is my hobby. It gives me pleasure and I do it once all the other tasks I need to do are done. Ask yourself. What do you enjoy doing? It may be biking, cooking, reading a book, DIY, gardening, sports and a lot more. Sometimes due to our hectic schedule we miss this important part of our life. Now I am reminding you, get a hobby and get yourself into it.
7. Learn something new
- Heard about the quote that says “Learning is a Lifelong Process”? It is true. I remember I was in a job before that I was totally excellent at. Not bragging, but looking back now, that was the moment I was extremely lonely. I knew everything I needed to do. I didn’t worry about anything at work. It even reached a point where I can function even when my eyes are closed. Okay, hyperbole! I mean there was no learning at all during those times. Until I decided to venture for a new adventure. I didn’t wanna feel that at my work these days, that’s why I dived into blogging.
There’s always something new to learn from blogging. Learning something new is one of the best things to do if you are lonely. Give it a try now.
8. Start or join charitable activities
- There is always a good feeling knowing that you have helped. Do you agree? Starting or joining charitable activities can be one of the ways you can combat your loneliness. Helping people who are in great need can result in a positive emotion that can boost your self esteem. Here at Journey4Us we do our best to do charity work. You might want to check that project we have. We call it Give Grow Generate. As long as your intention is pure, doing charity work can give you a great sense of happiness. Most likely a feeling of accomplishment too. Loneliness has no room.
9. Join online community or forum
- Nowadays, the internet is not only a place to gain information. It has now become a place to build community or a forum. What is a forum if you may ask. An online forum is a discussion board conducted over the internet. Each forum has specific target audience. My favorite forum place is reddit. Yes I join different forums over reddit and I experienced great sense of community over there as well. What I love about reddit is the moderations being done in every single post. It is not a spammy discussion boards and every-time you participate properly then you get some “krama” or some points. These points will validate how valuable member of subreddit community you are. You might want to check that out and join certain communities that gives you pleasure. Online forum has been relevant especially during these days. Open you reddit account now if you wish and start participating in any forum of your interest. Do something that will avoid you to feel lonely.
10. Get professional help
- Lastly, if you have tried many and it seems nothing works, consulting a professional is best advised by any bloggers you’ll meet. Other people can be successful by taking interventions by themselves but others are not. There is no reason to be ashamed about calling for help. Remember, it’s not only you facing this kind of loneliness. Take that courage to ask for help as soon as possible. Professionals use certain techniques personalized for each client. If you are in doubt or want more questions about this, please sign this form up.
It is normal to feel lonely once in a while, but many people may be experiencing severe loneliness that could be troublesome. Especially these days where working at home is increased in contrast with meeting people face to face. Whether you are experiencing occasional or chronic sense of loneliness or isolation, remember that you are not alone. Trying these tips, exploring other ways and teaching out to professionals can help you feel connected.
Let us know how you are and how we may help you. Thanks for visiting Journey4Us, and we hope to see you in our community.