The festive season has arrived. There are people surrounded by families and loved ones. While there are those who live on their own. During the festive season, there are so many fun activities to be enjoyed with family and friends. However, the individuals living on their own often feel lonely—with no one to share their joys, happiness, and celebrations during the holidays.
Here are ten ways that I have put together. They are thought-starters only. I’m sure you may have better or more unique and special ideas on how a person can overcome the feeling of loneliness. Remember that you are not alone and that there are ways in which you can feel less lonely and enjoy the festive season.
1. Decorate the Home: Your home is your castle. You need to cherish the space of your dwelling. You do not need to fill your home with decorations for the festive season. A few ornaments to reflect the joy of the season is a pleasant view to wake up to every morning.
2. Music: Yes, play music to fill the room or rooms of your home with the sound of lovely tunes. The sweet melodies could be instrumental sounds to liven your day.
3. Food: Prepare or buy a few of the favorite things that you enjoy eating during the festive season. Prepare enough for yourself for one or two days. Make your meal special by inviting a friend or a relative across to your home.
4. Hobby: Start a new hobby, it could be gardening, sewing, philately, numismatics or carpentry, blogging, writing. Take up something that you enjoy doing. This is a great way to occupy yourself during those long hours in the day when no one visits and the phone does not ring. If you enjoy reading get a Kindle and start your own collection of E-books with fiction and non-fiction subjects. Watch a movie at home to keep you entertained.
5. Club: Join an online or offline club, where you can meet people who share your interests. An online club for writers, an online club for bloggers, an online club for poets is just a few examples. If a club does not exist in your area, then create your own virtual club.
6. Journal: Start a journal to write about all the ideas that come to your mind during the day. They could be ideas for doing something interesting, memories from your childhood or a journal about your interests in life. Pay attention to things that matter in your life.
Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness.
-Pedro Almodovar
7. Side Hustle: This is also a great time to think about a side hustle to earn you extra money. Write an e-book, start freelancing as a writer, interior decorator, blogger, affiliate marketer or any other great idea that could earn you extra money. There may also come a time when your side-hustle becomes a full-time career.
8. Join Activities: Attend more events where there are people doing things that they enjoy, like painting, singing, meditation, aerobics or dancing.
9. Stop Negative Thinking: You need to stop thinking negatively and instead replace it with positive thinking in life. Start thinking about other people in your life and about ways in which you can connect with them and make a positive difference in their lives.
10. Experiences: Spend your money on experiences, from camping trips to excursions to places you would love to visit in real life. Go out and experience the real world, instead of being an armchair traveller.
Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.
-Maya Angelou
When you feel lonely, remember that you are not alone. There are millions of lonely people in the world like yourself. Stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about connecting with others in the real and the virtual world, during the festive season and throughout the year. Feel lonely no longer, when you decide to go out and enjoy your life.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
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