Alone

Being alone isn’t a good thing in most cases. Alone in a dark alley… alone on a desert island… alone because you’ve got no friends or family…

I’ve had many conversations in the past about being alone in the relationship sense, and usually the conclusion is that “It’ll happen, no rush.” I’m a pretty firm believer in that conclusion for myself. If I really wanted to be in a relationship with someone, just anyone, I do not think I would have a very hard time. I think that is the case for most people. Most of us have some standards though, and right now my standards are pretty high because I don’t really want to be in a relationship while I’m living at home with my parents (and the women I am after probably would not think too highly of my hole in the basement).

Hopefully once I find that special someone, I’ll be with them forever, so I’m in no hurry. A part of me thinks that the longer I wait, the better chance the good ones will all be taken. There is definitely some truth in that statement, but there are so many great women out there, I think I’ll find one.

Anyways, one of the conversations I had recently was with a woman in my cohort who explained that she has always hated being alone. She would always call a friend or be interacting with someone if she could help it. She said it stemmed from insecurities when she was younger, and she developed the habit of always wanting to interact with people. She was writing a paper for class, and it was about a time she found herself alone, and at one of the lowest points in her life. It is a pretty amazing story that involves her describing that loneliness and eventually turns into a surreal experience of finding a random book on a shelf and losing herself in the book. It sparked her interest in reading for fun, and is probably a big reason she is in my teaching program today. After complementing her on a great story, I said, “You never would have had that experience if you had a friend around, would you?”

She thought about it for a minute and responded, “No, I don’t think so.”

Being alone isn’t so bad. Actually, I fear people who can not stand being alone—what are they hiding from? What is so bad about being by themselves?