Cure #1 = Don’t Isolate

There is a cure for your condition. But that’s hard to swallow when you’re stuck at the bottom of a hole, choking on despair. Those are the moments in which you feel hopeless, believing no one could possibly relate to your life.

Maybe someone made an inadvertent decision that took away your sense of security. Or maybe someone intentionally attacked you and caused physical, verbal, or emotional harm. Perhaps a person with power over you (parent, boss, teacher, pastor, babysitter) used their position to emotionally put you down. 

Now, there are some behaviors that are next to impossible to overlook and explain away. People can be mean and malicious. And there are no excuses for the actions of others that left you hurt and lonely. These realities can’t sugarcoat your suffering either. We’re all human. Imperfect. And fallible. Most people aren’t jerks deliberately. At one time or another, we’ve all been the guilty party or the accomplice to causing someone pain. And it didn’t matter whether we meant to or not.

With that in mind, here’s the first word of encouragement to help you recover from the effects of alone.

Don’t Isolate

Being left out is one of the most painful experiences human beings face. Sometimes it’s debilitating—because it’s deliberate. Or at least it seems that way. But even if that’s not the case, that’s how it feels. And since perception is reality, it’s true in a sense. But instead of countering the circumstances of your loneliness by injecting yourself into social situations, you withdraw to a place of security, which stems from insecurity.

Being isolated by others is out of your control. Isolating yourself from others is a choice. And while it might feel safer to avoid social interaction to protect yourself from unwanted emotional abuse, self-seclusion only magnifies your loneliness.