In order to live a complete and fulfilled life, it is essential to have strong and deep meaningful relationships with the people who bring us up and bring out the best in us. Millennials are in the constant grind of completing college and getting established in the workforce. It can be a rat race, and our lives can be stressful and lonely. To combat those low-level feelings, we need a team of people we can count on emotionally. Good relationships bounce us backup after we have fallen. It is up to us to nurture and foster a loving environment for our relationships to become deep and meaningful. Here are three ways you can improve your relationships today!
Spend Time With Loved Ones
Time flies by, so spend time with your friends. Make time to be with your friends and plan activities around relaxation, being in nature, and working out. Drinking is nice to do if it’s a special holiday or birthday, but alcohol tends to make things worse if you are working to improve relationships. Be present, be attentive, and stay focused. These are important relationships you need to work, to try your best to be completely present for each person who is special in your life. It’s important, and you need to be emotionally available to help your friends when they need you!
Be Honest About Your Life Experience
Too often, we keep secrets from others because we are afraid of what they will think. Take a moment to meditate on why you do this. Is it because you are afraid others will not like the real you? If so, why are you pretending to be someone else? Come as you are and welcome your authentic, non-ego self into the present. You will feel more comfortable in your skin. By being open and honest about your life experiences, you are being your authentic self. You are being, you! In truth, you will attract the right people if you are yourself, and if you are not being yourself then you will attract people who are not like you and may not ultimately approve of yourself. Be you, do your best, and know that you are a diamond!
Trust Your Friends
Until proven differently, work hard to trust people you care about. It can be hard to trust if you grew up in a household where you weren’t loved, or even had a lover or friend you trusted deeply break that trust. To live complete, begin to trust again. Being hurt is temporary, so learn to let go and focus on what is happening now. Do not worry if you are uncertain of the future, you have absolutely no control over the future, you only have control over the current moment. Holding on to the past or worrying about the future will only keep you from loving and enjoying the present moment. Learn to let go, learn to trust, and learn to love life and enjoy it to the fullest. You are worthy of love and trust, so start today to show your friends you love them by trusting them completely.
Start today by intentionally making an active effort to do your best to improve relationships by being attentive and being your true self. When you open up and trust life, life tends to be there for us. Make sure you do your best every day, show up on time, make things work, and be happy. Every day is a new day for a fresh start. If is your life, so take back control today!
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
Loneliness is often confused with being alone; however, the former has been found to be a cause of death among higher isolated individuals. In the 21st Century with the advent of social media there is a misconception that the more “Friends” we have the better and healthier we are. The opposite is true. It is important to have up to five best friends who you can talk to about problems that you are having and you should see them regularly face to face. In light that people are becoming more isolated and experiencing loneliness, here are a few things you should know about loneliness so that you can fight it.
Loneliness Is Contagious
If you know someone who is lonely or if you are lonely, it has been found that people spread it to others who they are directly connected to according to a study that was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2009. This also works in reverse. If a person who is not lonely hangs around people who are lonely that same study found that the non-lonely person will become lonely. Loneliness is a prevalent social disease that is contagious.
Social Withdrawal
Individuals who begin to socially isolate them first start by withdrawing socially from interacting with people. These individuals often are unable to pick up on nonverbal social signals, which makes them socially incompetent that results in them not being able to activate positive social stimuli. After not being able to turn on positive social stimuli, miss nonverbal social cues, and slowly begin to withdraw from interacting from others is when social isolation begins. Individuals who withdraw from social interactions will be less trustful and display hostility towards others. Social withdrawal leads to social isolation.
Causes Hunger
Breakups are not the only life event that cause an individual to eat a lot of ice cream or insert your favorite food when you’re lonely and possibly depressed. Loneliness can last longer than getting over an ex and it is a common experience that individuals share in modern society. Interestingly though, women are more likely to become hungry and eat more when they are lonely. Loneliness activates a hormone that women have called Postprandial Ghrelin, which is also known as the hunger hormone. An individual can get over an ex and a breakup, but one can’t fight biology and the hunger hormone when one is lonely.
Probability of Death Rises By 26%
Loneliness can kill! A study that researchers at Brigham Young University conducted on loneliness found being lonely increases the risk of death by 26% to 32%. There was no difference between loneliness and social isolation according to the study. In short, if you subject yourself to loneliness or forced into social isolation by society you are have an increased mortality rate.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
Society equates being alone with being lonely, although these two states are very different. There is an important difference between being alone and being lonely. There is nothing wrong with being alone and there are easy solutions to be social, if one begins to feel lonely. Society tells singles that because they are single that they are lonely.
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines alone as being “without anyone or anything else” and being “without people that you know or that usually are with you.” It is appropriate to be alone in some circumstances to focus on work or to have solitude. Singles should be confident going out to places and going to events alone. This may be for drinks or going out for dinner alone. In fact, individuals are making reservations for restaurants on OpenTable to go out and dine alone which has been found to healthy for one’s mind. Consider spending more time in solitude and time being alone. There is an important difference between being alone and being lonely that the West has forgotten.
Loneliness is an emotional state. Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines lonely as being “sad from being apart from other people” and “causing sad feelings that come from being apart from other people.” Loneliness is unhealthy because humans are social animals. Some of the health consequences of loneliness and social isolation are increased risk of coronary complications and of having a stroke. If you are feeling lonely or have isolated yourself from others, it may be wise to see a doctor to check for depression. Loneliness and depression often come as a bad couple. However, about seven and eleven percent of individuals suffer from depression and the heavy feeling of self-isolation that depression places on people. Being social is critical to the being human, but loneliness and depression fight against the social reality of human existence.
Single people should never feel ashamed of spending time alone. It is important to make time for oneself. Be confident when you are alone and enjoy the time to yourself. In contrast, loneliness and social isolation are unhealthy and may lead to depression. Loneliness, social isolation, and depression are varying degrees of emotional and psychological symptoms that can ultimately affect your long-term health. The next time that someone comments to you about you being single and alone tell them that being alone is healthy while loneliness is unhealthy.
There is an important difference between loneliness and being alone that society neglects. It is important to spend time alone, but being lonely can be problematic. If you are alone, do not listen society’s message that you need to be in a romantic relationship to be normal. Spend time alone is a way to clear your mind and to rejuvenate yourself. Embrace being alone and the health benefits that have been found with solitude.