Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone. -Paul Tillich
Loneliness or Solitude? A chain of thoughts triggered by this solitary Kingfisher in fading daylight… Captured with Nikon P900 camera
How we perceive it depends on the phase of life we are in. There are phases in life when we are all alone - no one close to us physically and metaphorically.
When we are successful -
They say it is very lonely at the top. No one is a true friend perhaps. There is always that nagging doubt in the mind about people who try to befriend us. Are these true friends or a hoard of sycophants, trying to befriend us just for material gains out of the relationship? Unfortunately, there is no golden rule that helps us decide.
In these circumstances, solitude is our best friend. Speaking of myself - I leverage the solitude to sit there, on the top of the world, and reflect upon my humble beginnings and rejoice in the memories of those little joys of life that I used to cherish. A warm hug by my first love, my first drawing, my bicycle, those moments with my parents, the day my son held my finger in his tiny little hand..... Helps to keep my feet on ground and puts a smile on my lips.
When we fail -
No one wants to be our friend. There are no takers to share failure. Left to our own devices, licking our wounds from the harsh skirmish with life, we tend to draw ourselves into a cocoon. Self-inflicted loneliness!! To turn this loneliness into solitude takes a lot of strength of character. Those who do, bounce back and apply themselves to winning in life with all vigour. However, it is not an easy task. I, personally, have been in situations where the every deepening spiral of negative thoughts menacingly drew me in when I was alone. Thankfully, there is always someone, a source of strength upon which we can draw. For some, this is a wife/girlfriend or faithful companion. For others, this source of strength is a true friend. For still others, this source of strength is God or religion. Irrespective of the source of strength, the trick is to use that strength to turn the loneliness into a period of solitude and build our strength back to the point of breaking out of the cocoon.
I would love to hear your experiences and how you turned your loneliness into strengthening solitude! Please comment and share your story to inspire Steemians.
Image source :
Loney at top - http://www.recruitingroundtable.nl/2013/09/13/flexibilisering-is-it-getting-lonely-at-the-top/
Failiure: https://tinybuddha.com/blog/when-following-your-dreams-results-in-failure-after-failure/