Greetings Beloved Ones,
Here's a thought to ponder, when you are alone, are you "by" yourself or are you "with" yourself? I remember making a comment to a friend apologizing for the fact that they had to go somewhere by themselves; she quickly corrected me and said, "I am not going by myself but with myself!. I am never by myself but always with myself and I enjoy my own company".
I love that thought, it helps me to remember that while I enjoy being with and around others, I can also enjoy being with myself. Yet, as the author suggests, there are those times when we may feel lonely, even in the midst of others. We may hunger for something and not really know exactly want it is.
The questions for today are:
. Have you ever felt that something was missing in your life? What did you do about it?
. What do you do when you feel lonely?
. Have you ever felt depressed, or disconnected, or distant from what was happening around you?
. How do you know when you are "by" yourself or "with" yourself?
With you always,
Rev. Sylvia
I love the response your friend gave you and even though I would love to have a man in my life I would love to share warm embraces and tenderness and all that wonderful wonderful I must say I have not felt loneliness for a very long time. I enjoy my company and I do things with myself that a lot people wouldn't think of doing which surprises me because if you can't enough you Who Can!
ReplyDeleteI will be leaving town tomorrow for the Giving Thanks holiday and I want to wish the a Happy Happy one indeed. God Bless YOU Rev Sylvia
I am feeling someone very special is missing from my life, a deep sense of loss right now in my life. I lost my Mother less than a month ago. I do feel a loneliness when I pick up the phone and go to call her or want to tell her something. This I realize is a special kind of loneliness and it will pass. But what I do is reach out to a sibling or friend to remember that I am loved.
ReplyDeleteI love being with myself so I don't often feel lonely,but when I do I have learned to reach out and remind myself I am loved. when I feel disconnected, I first turn within to check in with what is out of balance in my life, and address that. If I can't put my finger on it, I pray and call a friend. Getting outside myself and realizing there is a bigger world out there with greater needs, I get grateful for all that I have in my life. I usually find that those two steps help me identify what's up with me and I can take steps to address whatever it is.
I too wish you Rev. Sylvia a happy holiday and all of the Unity Family. May we all experience traveling mercies and go and return safely from our loved ones.
Loneliness is something I have struggled with for quite some time and one of the things I felt was standing in the way of my happiness which was why I was excited to join this class on go on this journey. I think I am learning to be with myself and not by myself. I am learning that sometimes I can be my own best company. I think its just difficult for me because I am at a age where a lot of my friends are getting married and starting families and I continue to be a party of one but instead of being envious and jealousy I have decided to be patient and focus on all of the things I can do with myself. For example, this summer I took a trip to Spain for a week. I thought I went by myself but in retrospect I went with myself. It was probably the best vacation I have ever taken as I truly enjoyed my own company and was so proud of my self for declaring my independence. I think if I stop focusing on being by myself and enjoy being with myself I will see a transformation on how I approach loneliness and how I overcome it.
ReplyDeleteA few Wednesday's ago when we did the fear exercise in class the issue of loneliness seemed to be a recurring theme for several of us, including myself. So it did not surprise me that today's reading struck a chord for me. As much as I can say that I am happy by myself, I am also content and stable when I am in companionship. I cried today missing my husband's company and wishing he was here to share Thanksgiving with our two children. That's where I am at today.
ReplyDeleteFrom the year 2000 until 2009 I worked for myself from home. Most of my daily communication was on the internet. Going to the supermarket or the bank was my main source of human interaction. All this time in solitude made me realize I was also isolating myself. I got very used to being alone and even when I was around others, it didn't feel right. Finally, I began to get stir-crazy. I wasn't depressed, but I felt empty. It seemed I were the only person in the world and everything else was just a figment of my own imagination. That's when I began to seek the company of others--not just anyone, but like-minded people. Other Spiritual beings who were on the same page as myself. Now I work in an office (took some adjusting) and have a church family full of loving, caring people. I'm still working on wrapping my mind around that special person again. Because of past experiences, I'm having a hard time visualizing that. It surprises me, since all my other visualization comes quite easily. "Work in progress," as they say.
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