Loneliness is a state of emotion none of us are immune from. Granted we each have our own degrees of loneliness & feel lonely in different situations.
I ponder these thoughts after speaking to a friend of many years this morning explaning that this was her worst time of the year for feeling lonely. She went on to explain that her family was spread far & wide and could not get together for Christmas as many families do. She had been unwell & unable to travel this year, so for the first time, spent Christmas alone. This could happen to anyone. What I found interesting was she would have been more than welcome, at my house. When I told her that, she told me she was too embarrassed to tell anyone. If only had known, I would have offered, gone to pick her up and included her in our family celebrations. Now if this can happen to a friend of many years, one I care for and contact regularly, I'm pretty sure it is happening alot!
Later today I was chatting to a friends daughter , just home for Christmas. She lives away, really only has contact with her family here. As we were talking, she said something that shocked me "I feel lonely when I'm at home, my world just isn't like this, at all". She went on to say she loved her family but felt lonely, when isolated from her friends & her normal life.
So when we are thinking of loneliness so many other emotions are attached, it can be difficult to try and nail the feeling. However I put it to you we should all be considering loneliness in the holidays, reach out a hand, give a smile or a hug. More than ever this is a time to let people you come in contact with know, they are not alone!
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