The crazy voices of loneliness

Shoot. Much has happened since my last post, including graduating from Cedarville, working as a site director for YouthWorks in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, spending a semester in a graduate program (Master of Urban Planning) just to discover that it's not for me, and moving back home to work as a full-time nanny. It's a year and a half after graduating, and I'm finding that very few friends still keep in regular contact. I think this really supports the idea that your geographical community is very important; distance really makes a difference in the quality of friendships. I only have a couple of friends back home, and it can be lonely. Even for this introvert, the lack of interaction with those really good friends has tested me. Whatever physical place I put down roots, it must be a place where I can be an integral part of the community. The lonely places, the too-quiet places are dangerous because it is in those places that the voices of insecurity creep in. Now, I don't mean to suggest that solitude and silence aren't valuable; solitude and silence are absolutely necessary. But there is a major difference between being alone and being lonely. These last several months have required me to practice "overruling" the insecure voices that say "you're worthless" and "it's your fault that x, y, and z have happened to you." I'll accept responsibility where it's needed, but I'm talking about those situations that were completely out of my control. Today, I can gladly say that I've learned from being lonely and have grown in many ways. But I realize that loneliness isn't the same for everyone. Perhaps you can think of someone in your life who is experiencing loneliness. I challenge you to be a person in his or her life that challenges the crazy voices of loneliness.