GOD IS NEVER SO WITH YOU AS WHEN YOU FEEL ALONE
The Italians remind us that from life’s information, informazione, you need to find your way to inspiration, inspirazione.
So first the informazione.
You are hereby warned by researchers that there is an epidemic of loneliness, and if you are feeling lonely, you are lonely.
To this end, studies now conclude that 1 out of every 2 Americans fall into that category.
In Great Britain, 41% of the population says the TV or a pet is their main source of company.
A government study in Japan found that more a half million people spend at least 6 months at home with no outside contact.
“During my years caring for patients, the most common pathology I saw was not heart disease of diabetes,” said former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. “It was loneliness.”
Adding this all up, the number one illness in the world is depression. And both depression and anxiety, a leading fuel for depression, are exacerbated by social isolation.
Additionally, a study by Brigham Young University found that loneliness shortens a person’s life by 15 years, about the same impact of being obese or smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Loneliness has also been proven to trigger the release of stress hormones. And yes, stress kills.
Contrary to what you might suppose, loneliness is not an illness plaguing only the elderly. Loneliness is an equal opportunity employer. According to a Cigna insurance company study, Generation Z members age 18-22 and Millennials ages 23-37 scored the highest for loneliness.
In one study of Americans ages 19 to 32, the top 25 percent of social media users were twice as likely to report feeling lonely as the people who use it least. The posted and postured happiness on the internet is often done so to be self-convincing, or other-convincing, and is no more a reality check than the Ozzie and Harriet show, on TV in the 1950’s, was a reality check of a typical American family.
Now, for the inspirazione!
Having read of all of the statistics and studies above, keep in mind Mark Twain’s sage insight, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
So, damn the statistics and take the following to heart:
1) Don’t confuse how you feel with who you are, and especially don’t confuse feeling lonely with being alone.
2) Remarkably, the nicest way still to get warm is put your arms around someone who is cold.
3) The feeling that no one else knows what you are feeling is exactly right. But that is also how everyone else feels. So, what you may feel as isolation is also a portal to empathy. And in being empathetic you are welcomed into the human community. The alone we each know is the alone we all share.
4) We all live on a little blue ball spinning in space at 1,060 miles an hour. That we don’t know this or don’t remember this doesn’t deny its truth. We’re all here in our present incarnation until we’re not. And that’s something else we all share.
5) If you are struggling against a tough illness or a loss no one else can truly say, “I know what you’re going though.” But everyone truly will go through something. Everyone. No one is alone in this.
6) The only thing money solves is money problems. Life isn’t easy and no less isolating even for those who have the padding of wealth and position. Success is its own gravity. People with much can, and often do, feel all the more alone in the certainty that everyone wants something from them but, alas, not them.
7) What makes us all blood brothers and sisters is that we all bleed. We are all vulnerable to feeling lonely. Welcome to the club. Membership limited to members and non-members only.
8) When you get out of bed in the morning and are feeling alone, remember we are all alone but we are all alone together.
9) Treasure the grace of solitude and guard the right of solitude in all others.
10) Memo to drop in the sea. You are not a drop in the sea; you are every drop in the sea.
Trova inspirazione in questa informazione!
Find inspiration in this information!
God is never so with you as when you feel alone.
- Noah benShea