I used to be one of those people who could never just be on their own but the more time goes on, the more I've grown, it's become apparent how important alone time truly is.
It seems like so many people cannot be content on their own, whether that's physically or emotionally. WHY? Where has this notion in society that we NEED, MUST HAVE, MUST BE IN CONTACT with other people come from?
Human interaction is incredibly important for growth but alone time is crucial. The ability to physically sit on your own and just think allows us to explore our own thoughts, feelings, ideas. We need to sit back and ask ourselves "now what do I want from my life? what are MY goals?". It was only from doing this that I have actually discovered all the things I forgot I used to love like painting, writing, reading. We get so caught up in staying busy to try keep others happy and run away from the dreaded "overthinking" that I feel we forget to take a step back and just calm down.
We have one mind. Why not try to get to know it? Explore the things that makes us happy, makes us cry. Create goals for the future, whether they are for the next 24 hours or the next 24 years. Focus our energy and effort into making ourselves as happy as we want the people around us to be. It's only from doing this that we can get the best from ourselves and ultimately lead the most fulfilled life possible.
You might even find people with similar passions and characters will gravitate towards you. Relationships might improve. There will no longer be the unhealthy dependency on others. No more sadness from an unanswered text or a cancelled event. We are whole without others; they add to our lives, not complete them. Developing unconditional self-acceptance can completely alter the way we look at situations. I no longer immediately jump to blaming myself. It is from downtime I can sit and say "It's okay, I am good.".
We are powerful enough to do anything we want; we just need to find out what it is we want from our lives.
Ideas For Downtime:- Turn off the phone
- Head to your favourite place in the world - mine is the beach
- Read your favourite books
- Listen to your favourite songs
- Keep a journal - any thoughts or ideas you get, write them down
- Draw
- Meditate
- Exercise
