Loneliness vs. Being alone

"Loneliness is different than being alone."
- Fop, remedy.fm
Many of us spend time alone. Personally, I enjoy having time alone. It lets me recharge and calm myself. And when I really need a good, long time with God, I get away.
But loneliness is different than just being alone.
People who struggle with loneliness feel alone even in big crowds. They can be with 100 people, yet still feel like they are the only person in the room.
I have felt this way. It's real. And it's not fun. Any time I went any where I noticed how I didn't really seem to belong to anyone.
My generation is the most "connected" generation. We text. We send pictures. We send emails. We spend hours on Facebook. Because of how much we seem to communicate, it is logical that we would have the most meaningful and deep relationships. I mean, we are constantly talking to people and sharing our opinions, right? Yet the numbers of suicides, attempted suicides, those struggling with depression, and the rates of self-harm still rise. How can this be happening?
Constant communication isn't always good. Meaningful, deep relationships cannot be built when there is some sort of device in between two people. It is much easier to share when two people are typing instead of speaking to each other. It's much easier to be rude or mean when I don't see the look on a person's face when I hurt them. I can have thousands of conversations over the Internet about everything from A to Z, but the sum of them will not mean as much to me as one conversation with a person who is fully focused on our conversation. My generation has an incredible access to communication, but we need to be sure that our relationships are real when we are with people.
The breakdown of family has also been a big issue. If I was to ask someone about their struggle with loneliness or depression, I am sure that one of the reasons they would pinpoint would come from some sort of relationship with their parents. A dysfunctional family creates wounds that don't easily go away. A child needs love and affirmation from both parents. When a parent is physically or emotionally absent, the child is not always going to receive the examples and care that they need. Some single-parent households produce kids who do not struggle with the "unspokens" of our society, but I would venture to say that many do.

Loneliness is something that our society seems to ignore. It needs to be addressed. But not with more video games or more texting. It needs to be addressed with kindness and love. A smile to a lonely person can mean the world. Looking at them and speaking to them like they are a legitimate human being can help them rise up from the trap of loneliness. Jesus called us to care for the poor. The lonely and depressed are poor in spirit. We must hold out our hands and help them.

(Do struggle with loneliness? Do you need someone to talk to? Groundwire.net allows you to talk to a caring adult who will pray for you and try to help you. There are many call centers you can contact if you need a physical voice. You are not alone. I pray that you would find the things you lack in Christ instead of people. Hold on, God has not let go of you.)



I found out about Remedy.fm last night. I have already listened to three past The Cure shows. Dude, they are pretty awesome. They do their research. Do you want biblical information on a topic? Search "remedy.fm the cure" in the search box on iTunes. They have talked about many, many things.