DAY 14 GRATEFUL FOR MY LONELINESS

 People know your name, not your story. They’ve heard what you’ve done, but not what you’ve been through. So take their opinions of you with a grain of salt. In the end, it’s not what others think, it’s what you think about yourself that counts. Sometimes you have to do exactly what’s best for you and your life, not what’s best for everyone else.

Gratitude creates stronger bonds and social relationships with positive associations and invites the experience of being in solitude rather than the perception of being alone. 

Solitude is when we welcome time alone with ourselves. It gives us the space to appreciate our life experiences with gratitude rather than thinking about what we do not have or what we have lost.

Being alone to learn and grow is a blessing !!

Living in loneliness, with the attitude of victim, or defeat, simply limits and obscures our feelings.

I’m thankful for loneliness because I finally stopped running and opened the door to my heart and gave it a space of its own. I’ve embraced it, and I've learned to enjoy and learn from my loneliness. 

Being lonely isn’t a bad thing, it is an inspiring thing. I wish everyone could experience being alone for a few days, because you become very grateful for what you have. 

In my opinion, loneliness was a gift from God, which allowed me to know myself, and to have a personal relationship with God.

Love is the antidote to loneliness. Instead of waiting to be loved, we need to give love

Most of us never get the gift because we’re not willing to sit with our loneliness. We fill the void with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, reality TV and gossip about celebrities or maybe about our neighbors or co-workers. We combat loneliness with sex, food and alcohol. 

But we can’t outrun loneliness or successfully hide from it because it’s an integral part of us; it’s hardwired into us. 

Without it, we forget to seek true intimacy with God, with others but, most importantly, a deeper connection to our own spirituality. It is loneliness that makes us ask the most important questions about our life’s purpose and mission, and to listen closely for the God answers. 

I’m thankful to have learned this, even if I’ve had to learn it the hard way. 

When my break with my fiance came, the independence of my son when starting his own life, upon receiving my medical diagnoses, the lack of employment, the fact of not having money to pay the bills, the absence of my family, because they live in Different cities made me feel lonely, feel fear, pain ... and I did not want to face so much loneliness.

All this situation, like being without a significant other and without the routine of an office job — put me into contact with loneliness in a way I never had experienced it before. 

“Sometimes, you just need a break. In a beautiful place. Alone. To figure everything out.” 

Today there is no trace of that painful period of feeling low. I am happy, although I am still single. What has changed?

I made a decision: "I will give up self-pity and choose to be grateful." One evening I wrote in capital letters on a piece of paper: "THANKFULNESS" and listed the things which I am thankful for: "having a place To live, fresh air, the kindness of the people I have met during the day, the fact that I was able to talk to my children and mom for phone all days, and I started to appreciate more the blessings that God has given me, I started to restore my heart, to perform many activities that I had not thought of before. I am study again and awake new talents.

I learned to walk by faith and many other things!

Gratitude was a real eye-opener. It opened my heart, too. I understood: it is not true that I am alone.The loneliness was my only constant companion, I began to treat it as a friend.

Now the loneliness pointed me in the right direction. It led me to my truest home: my own heart and soul.

 “The hardest walk is walking alone, but it’s also the walk that makes you the strongest.”

Life is hectic — we have jobs, families, friends, chores and hobbies — it’s easy to get lost in the noise. I’m not sure why, because loneliness led me to the best friend I’ve ever known: I discovered my authentic self.

We can come out bitter or we can come out better. There is purpose in our pain. The ones who notice the storms in our eyes, the silence in our voice and the heaviness in our heart are the ones we need to let in.

I still loving and cherish my family and friends, I still look forward to being a wife some day.I continue my role of mother but loneliness has taught me that my most important connection is to God and my spirit. And for this, I will always be thankful.

If you are lonely, take the time to look around at what you do have, not the people but all the things you have to be grateful for. Being lonely doesn’t need to be a crutch, let it be the thing that offers a new perspective on the world.

EXERCISE # 14

If you feel exhausted, if you start thinking at the break of dawn that you will always be alone and that it is sad, painful and scary, please make a list of the things that you are thankful for. Right now. It is enough to collect 10 reasons: “I have one more day of life ahead of me. I have something to wear and I have to eat, I have a home, i have a job, I have health, I have the love of my children, my mother is alive, I have great friends, it is summer.... etc”

These are only examples, but it is worthwhile to write down your own reasons for being grateful. And then take a look at your feelings, the self-pitying or being thankful, and choose what is best for you.

I choose gratitude. Gratitude opened my eyes and heart. I came to my senses: it is not true that I am alone. I saw my family, my friends, acquaintances, neighbors, dwellers of the city in which I live whom I meet in the church, in shops, and on different events. I noticed that there were interesting people around me whom I had failed to see earlier.

Thanks to being grateful I am not afraid to be alone. Gratitude prevents me from feeling lonely. Gratitude cheers me up. I don’t cry in my pillow day after day and I am no longer miserable. I have abandoned the egocentric illusion of loneliness and have my feet on the ground.

The real world is full of wonderful people who want to meet me and you, perhaps for a longer time and perhaps just to hear about gratitude and to be able to reject self-pity and move out of a black hole.

What does God have to say about our loneliness? What does He offer to fill the vacuum? The first thing He says is, “I understand. I really understand.”

The Son of God knows what it is like to be lonely. 

In Jesus’ darkest hour — the night before He was crucified on the cross — He was in the Garden of Gethsemane and all His friends fell asleep. When the soldiers came and took Him to the trial, all His disciples fled. Then Peter denied Him three times. When Jesus took the sins of the world on Himself on the cross, He cried out,

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? — Mark 15:34

Jesus understands loneliness. He says to us, “I understand how you feel. I care about you, and I want to help you.” 

We need to Let Him help us conquer our loneliness as we turn to Him in prayer and reach out in love and help to other lonely people around us.

When we care about the needs of others, we forget that loneliness exists and we value every day of our life.

THANK YOU for sharing this 14-day challenge with me!

May your day be filled with sunshine as you move in the direction of your dreams.

I love you and I bless you with all the blessing.

Financial Services is my profession, teaching with patience and love is my nature, helping and protecting is my passion!

Martha Macias

(813)516-7807