Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Not Alone Series: Loneliness

Linking up with Jen at Jumping in Puddles and Morgan at Follow and Believe for another Not Alone post!

We all have times when we feel alone. What are ways that you combat loneliness? Pray? Join a group? How can we encourage each other to stay positive? ~ prompt courtesy of Laura

What perfect timing with Valentine's Day this weekend!


Let's just all get on the same level here and acknowledge that when we are talking about "loneliness" we are not talking about having no friends or living as a hermit; we are talking about not having a Special Someone. Those are different longings, I think, and while both are totally valid, I want to be clear that I'm talking about the latter.

Well, friends, where do I turn when I'm lonely? I turn to friends! If my friends are in a relationship, they haven't been their whole lives, so I can vent to them, and if my friends are single, they are living the struggle! My friends and I encourage each other, and we pray for each other, which is so wonderful.

I really like Morgan's suggestion of learning to love your own company. That one took me a while, for sure #extrovertproblems. There was a time when I was calling my friends on my commute home, trying to get together with them that day, just so I would have something to look forward to other than being home alone.

More recently, though, I think I've settled down with myself. Being alone is not something I dread anymore. This only came through practicing being alone, so if being alone is uncommon for you, give it a whirl!


Finally, I like to use my moments of loneliness to pray for Mr. TDH and our future together. I pray for the moment we meet and our process of growing together and our lives together. I pray that we will glorify God through our relationship, and hell yes I pray that our relationship will start!
Jk... a little. Ok, not very much. Mainly that's true. 

{This may have revealed what I really do when I'm lonely - watch other lonely people on television. Um what? Did I just admit that? Noooooo...}

How can I encourage you? How can you encourage me? I think the title of this series says it all: even when I feel all alone in the world, I know that I am not. There are so many of you awesome ladies out there who are experiencing similar things, and I think we should pray for each other, be good friends to each other, {give tv recommendations to each other!} and send virtual hugs because we truly are not alone. Because what are friends for?

15 comments:

  1. You know what I love about this series so much? I feel like we just GET each others lives. So much. And I just love how you turned what can be a downer of a topic into something that made me chuckle. And now this is reminding me to answer your email from forever ago. Getting on it right now! Thanks for a great post :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. YES!!! Totally! My life and attitude would so NOT be the same without this NAS community.
    Haha, glad this made you chuckle! :)
    Yay! I will look for an email soon :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Um, yes. Can I meet my future husband now, please God? I know God's timing is perfect and all that, but can I get a little bit of that perfect sense of timing? That would be nice. #angstyprayers

    ReplyDelete
  4. Seriously, the timing thing!!! If i could just see the ball rolling... hell, if I could see the ball, that would be great!!! :) Haha, love your hashtag!

    ReplyDelete
  5. just to know that there's a ball to be rolled would be awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Such a great post - remembering that 'loneliness' doesn't mean I don't have friends, but that I am not in a relationship. People are always saying, "well you have friends" ... yeah, it's not the same!

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG I love the gifs/memes! I'm dying laughing over here! They are so true! Some of them are pretty accurate to my life..esp that last one. I get really hurt when people don't answer me and think something is wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yes...I've done some crazy prayers for my future spouse..so much as to praying to deceased relatives to send my future husband my way...which typing it sounds weird...

    ReplyDelete
  9. :D Glad they evoked a laugh!
    Do you watch Parks and Rec? That last gif is even funnier with context! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. yes! I love that show! Now I want to go watch that episode :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. :D I'm just getting into it {like three seasons} and laugh hysterically each time!

    ReplyDelete