4 Ways to Combat Loneliness

It's hard for me to admit.

Maybe it's the time of year.

But I've been lonely.

It crept in while I was busy doing other things.

Like writing, coaching, teaching.

All deeply fulfilling.

But not a substitute for friendship.

So I started looking at my choices.

I started with telling a friend that I'd been lonely.

"Me too!" she said.

We promised to get together. And we will.

But that wasn't the most important part.

The moment I told her what I'd been feeling, I felt less lonely.

And I'm quite sure she did too.

In my loneliness, I was not longer alone.

That one moment of honesty and vulnerability closed the gap.

Connection, friendship, intimacy are vital -- like food and water.

But we have to make the effort. We have to take the chance.

This is vulnerability.

This is how we get what we need. This is how we grow.

Friendship, quite literally, makes for a healthier life.