Let go of loneliness, hold onto love

When I think about loneliness, I picture a lone little sparrow perched on a bench in front of the glorious sea. She’s in the most magnificent place to take in the sunset as it drops on the horizon. But, she’s too distracted to even take note of the marvellous work of nature unfurl before her. What is she distracted by, you ask?

Well, the thing is, although there was immense beauty right before her, this little sparrow was busy looking around. She wanted to spot another sparrow that she could share this moment with. Her gaze fell upon children building castles in the sand, a couple walking hand in hand along the shore and even a lone dove. No, she thought, this isn’t what I’m looking for, while she continued to feel forlorn. Head hanging low, the tiny birdie didn’t even realise when the moment had passed and she missed the sunset that day. As she looked at the children gleefully pack their toys, the couple whisper sweet nothings as they gazed at each other and the dove fly away blissfully in the deep blue sky, she felt more alone than ever. Never mind, she said, maybe tomorrow there will be someone I can share this beautiful sunset with.

Little birdie got you thinking?

The sparrow is just like you and me. So often, we’re busy figuring out things that we lose sight of the real picture. We long for someone to share our happiness, to be a shoulder we can unburden on, to have a few laughs with or just be ourselves with. It’s indeed lovely to be surrounded by people we can call our own, but what if we’ve left some of these people behind because of small niggling issues? What if we’re the ones that have been left behind because of misunderstandings? What if you have a beautiful circle of friends and still feel slightly left out?

The L word strikes all of us at some point or the other. We’re referring to loneliness here, and no matter what age or stage you’re at, there’s a fair chance you’ll be susceptible to its pull. Do you know why this happens? Because it’s easy, it’s easy to give in to loneliness, to draw yourself away from everything and everyone and nestle in a quiet bubble. You’ll be perfectly content with where you are and before you know it, it will become normal for you to feel this way.

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