The Plague of Loneliness

Humans are fickle creatures.

We construct mass networks of friends, colleagues, associates, and peers. Empires of followers, friends, and buddies. Thousands of faces pass us on university campuses, school hallways, and offices.

With these legions of individuals, we expect them to be significant to our lives in some fashion. When we are dumped, we reach for someone. When a death of a loved one shatters our reality, we reach for someone. When we fail that test, we reach for someone. And when we just feel alone, we reach for someone.

Perhaps one of the greatest fallacies, or flaws in the human psyche is that we DO feel alone when surrounded by so many other humans. Haven't we all felt that gripping piercing stab of loneliness sitting in a classroom or at the summer barbecue, surrounded by others? Why?

The castles and kingdoms of friends and followers turn to sand when we reach for someone and no one is there. The towers of colleagues and acquaintances are rubble after a hard day and no one to talk to.

This is not about self pity.

This is a wake up call. A call to action.

Because while you, yes YOU, feel like you are happy and content with the people around you, someone is not. Someone is feeling down in the depths of despair without a soul around to hug them and say "It'll be alright. I'm here." Look around you. Open your eyes. Put down your cellular phones and go look people in the eyes. Is there light? Do they shine? No? Then sit them down and listen to them.

It may not be now, it may have been yesterday, or it might be next Thursday, that you are the person who just needs that friend to be there to listen. You might be the person who does the listening. It is a road that goes both ways. If you want to be listened to you better expect to do your share of listening. How dare you think of being so selfish to shove your problems down the ear canals of another, while not being so kind as to return the favour!

When your castles and kingdoms turn to sand, remember my words: Listen to your friends -- that is how you keep them.

When a fisherman throws his line into a body of water and doesn't pull out any fish, he must abandon that lake to find a source that is more rewarding of his efforts. The funny thing about life is that we are called on to be the lake and at times we also find ourselves as the fisherman.

Be true to your friends. Be deserving to be called a friend. Listen.

TSR