Solitude can be a bit of a double-edged sword: Many of us, especially the more introverted among us, may require extra alone time to recharge and regulate ourselves. But if we spend too much time alone, we can slip into detrimental patterns and lose sight of our ability to reach out to and connect with others.
For those of us who have become too deeply entrenched in loneliness, it can be difficult to climb back out again. But humans have an innate drive to connect with each other, and if we keep reminding ourselves that other people want to engage with us, we can rebuild the confidence required to break free of our isolation.
If you’ve been lonely or you struggle to remember that other people desire to know and love you, here are 14 reminders that love is all around us. We need only to step back into the sun and build or nourish our connections with others to feel it.
The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Loneliness is proof that your innate search for connection is intact.Martha Beck
The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.Michel de Montaigne
Every single human being who is alive has felt this kind of pain, hopelessness, and loneliness at one time or another. We are all connected through this shared pain and struggle. We feel alone, and in this we are connected.Leo Babauta
The loneliness you feel is actually an opportunity to reconnect with others and yourself.Maxime Lagacé
Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.Laozi
We can all fight against loneliness by engaging in random acts of kindness.Gail Honeyman
A season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. Remember that next time you feel alone.Mandy Hale
Although I am a typical loner in my daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has prevented me from feelings of isolation.Albert Einstein
All great and precious things are lonely.John Steinbeck
Romanticize the actions that you take for yourself. Acknowledge your desires and turn them into something better than your imagination. It’s all about making an effort for yourself.Renuka Gavrani
There’s nothing abnormal about loneliness.Terry Howard
The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.Francis Phillip Wernig
I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being!Hafiz
Featured image credit: SpicyTruffel/ Shutterstock
