"Loneliness" - Anon

Speaking as someone who knows what it means to be lonely, I can honestly say that most cases of loneliness are down to misunderstanding or stubbornness. Real loneliness is a result of someone's reluctance to realise that they can always ask for help, or their pride disallowing them from asking.

Personally I fall under the latter. Unless someone is literally locked in a room completely cut off from the world, there is nothing and nobody but themselves perpetuating the loneliness many claim to be feeling. The simple fact that we can tell someone that we are feeling lonely is already better than someone who is actually lonely. You know what I think is real loneliness? A little boy who is waiting for death in a hut in a war-stricken village in the 3rd world. That is the real loneliness, when we have nobody at all to turn to. That is my one true fear; ending up like that. Oh and moths. I hate moths.

Most people at one point or another feel "lonely" but, in reality, it's really their pride that keeps them that way. It is through my personal experience that I can confidently say there is always someone willing to listen. Even complete strangers will be willing to listen if they see that you are totally in need of company. Humans have something called compassion. Granted not all people show it, but it is within our nature to want to nurture and feel important. How much more important can one person feel than when he helps someone in need? I understand that I might have a warped view of humanity to most people of the general public, but I like to consider myself a realist. I have been fortunate in life to have been the one in need and to have helped many others in need myself.

One must also notice that there is a huge difference between being alone and being lonely. I enjoy being alone a lot, it gives me time to think. I have done most of my personal growth though self-reflection and that can never be done with anyone else. Sometimes someone needs to be alone just to have no distractions. However I know that I am also fortunate enough to be able to speak to people at any point. I have many friends that I know will listen if I want to talk. I also have a brilliant partner who I know I can trust and is always ready and insistent on helping, just as I am ready and insistent on protecting her. I am at a point in life where, despite my many snags, I am happy. My whole "lonely" point in life has been reduced to me realising I was just too fucking proud to ask for help.

I don't mean to be particularly harsh, but people need to get over themselves and just ask for help sometimes. Others it is healthy to be alone and they just need to learn to take care of themselves as well. When it comes to loneliness itself, those are the two main fronts from which one must address it. Self-reflection and a solid friendship with at least one person. Tough love is something I do.

Good afternoon, the interwebz.

[By the way, I am grateful to Anon for all the suggestions but I would like it if anyone else tried too. Keep them coming and so will I ... That sounds wrong.]