Alone in a CROWD

Have you ever felt lonely in the middle of a crowd? It’s an odd feeling, I can tell you. There you are, with people all around you, and they’re talking and laughing and engaging with one another. And there you are, like you’re outside the circle, trying to look like it doesn’t bother you but of course it does. You’re the third wheel, the one who causes the company to be a crowd, the expendable part. As a matter of fact, you feel like you’re kind of a drop in the ocean and that if you left, no one would know that you’re gone...or care. Have you ever felt like that?

Now if you haven’t, I think you’re really lucky, because I believe this kind of loneliness is growing in our society. People today are more connected to one another than ever before in human history, thanks to Internet-based social networking sites and text messaging. But they’re also more lonely and distant from one another in their unplugged lives. This is not only changing the way we interact online, it’s straining our personal relationships, as well.You see, as we become increasingly detached from one another, interaction becomes more and more awkward and strained. And even though advertisers constantly bombard us with commercials with beautiful people having a wonderful and relaxed time at these huge parties, I think this is an image that just distorts the world as it really is.

Alone, one word you wouldn't think means much. If you really think about it though, a lot of things can come from being alone, especially bad things. If you see it how I do, you would see it as three different stages of being alone. From the least harmless, to the most intense, one normally leads to the other. Things leading from nobody knowing anything about you, like whether or not you're okay to depression and mental illness, and then the final stage of self-mutilation and suicide. Lots of people are alone everyday and only few lucky ones have someone waiting for them.Hundreds of thousands of people are alone because people make them feel inadequate of their company. People begin to lock themselves away due to these things. Nobody ever really knows these people, or cares if they're okay, most people don't even care.

When people are alone, they have nobody to talk to; nobody knows them or anything about them. They don't even know if the people okay. This is the first stage of being alone; some people never progress beyond this point. This 'alone time' may lead to thinking about all the negative things that are said, and may make them dwell on the harsh realities that are known as life. If they keep themselves so isolated nobody is going to be able to get to know them, to see if they're okay, and they're not going to get the help they need. If they're being singled out because of their race, religion, sexual preference, or their financial background nobody will know. Nobody will be able to make it better. Yet there are worse things that become of being alone. They could be described as depression and mental illness.

Frankly, I think we’re surrounded by lonely people, people who feel isolated and have no idea what to do about it. Being alone can literally drive people crazy, because it gives them the time to dwell on the negativity and then they go out of their mind trying to figure out what bad they can do.Often the person who is lonely doesn’t want any advice, they just want someone to spend time with. And they don’t want us to stand behind them for support, but beside them for comfort. And they don’t want us to carry them but rather to walk beside them. But that can only happen when we open our arms.

Loneliness is all around us. Every day we encounter people who may be on the verge of giving up, because they just don’t know what to do or where to turn. But that doesn’t have to the be case. You see, we can step forward with our eyes, ears and arms wide open to kill the feeling of loneliness.

"Even  when it seems that there is no one else, always remember there's one person who never ceased to love you - Yourself."