How often do you feel lonely?

It is common for all of us to experience loneliness every now and then, but what to do if the feeling persists more than we’re used to?

If not dealt with properly, it can grow into something harmful for your mental health.

While a lot of us feel can lonely and isolated too long, loneliness isn’t reliant on being alone. Loneliness, like all of our emotions is a state of mind.

It doesn’t reflect how many friends or family members you have by your side, instead it’s how connected you feel internally. You can be surrounded by family or friends and yet your feelings of loneliness still somehow manage to persist.

So, what can you do about it?

Here are 4 easy tips you can follow to deal with loneliness!

1. Become friends with yourself first

Self care is something that is extremely important for our mental health. You may feel lonely because you lack of your own friendship. When’s the last time you were kind to yourself, took a minute to relax and wind down?

I don’t mean passing out after a long night of working. I mean conscious time dedicated to yourself and your thoughts.

Here are some ideas: 10 Relaxing Ways To Spend Time By Yourself

Spend some time with the friend within yourself. They may be the one to help you calm yourself and relief some stress. Once you have made friends with yourself you may not feel so lonely around others or on your own because you always know that you’ve got your back!

2. Show compassion

Often times, when we are lonely, we may wish that someone can simply be there for us, someone who understand us and show us some compassion.

Don’t you feel a little cheerier when someone gives you a compliment or when someone does a favor for you? Don’t you feel more valued and less alone?

Bring that compassion to others and spread love. Because not only does caring and kind acts help other feel cheery, but it can make you feel cheery as well and less lonely in the process.

Compassion can be a step towards making a new friend!

3. Find your tribe

Finding my tribe? What do you mean by that?

Well, maybe you have a few people you get along with, but they have other interests and talk about topics you don’t know. Sometimes, when you are with them, you feel like the odd one out.

Looking for your tribe means you are looking for people who share common interests and ideas with you. We should all surround ourselves with others who share the same interests, so we cannot only discuss about what we value, but gain a friend as well.

Take a class, a workshop or join an online community with the interest similar to your own.

It’s an easy way to find your tribe.

4. Don’t busy yourself

Very often people try to run away from loneliness by busying themselves with needless things like second jobs or extra hours at work.

It might help you forget you’re lonely for a bit, but you’ll only end up feeling worse in the end.

The key is to slow down for a bit and focus on something you really love or something you’ve always wanted to do but never did.

So, would you try any of these tips? How do you deal with loneliness? Let me know!