To Your Success Part 1 "Loneliness"

Inspirational quote for today is: “You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the earth by the Master Craftsman.” ~ Max Lucado In this series of the Mind, Body, and Soul I’m going to talk about loneliness. Did you know there are many symptoms of loneliness? Some symptoms of loneliness are obvious, and some are more disguised. You see loneliness can be described as a state of not feeling accepted in a group or of not belonging. Also, loneliness may involve emotional pain, an empty feeling on the inside, or restlessness. In addition, loneliness is a very common experience for millions of Americans. This is also the reason for single bars, encounter groups, drug experiences, free sex, and certain Eastern religions that are so popular today in which so many have turned to overcome their loneliness. You see loneliness is also a problem with the elderly, who often escape their loneliness through suicide. However, loneliness strikes everyone from all ages and all classes. Even the great king and leader of God’s people David felt lonely. As David wrote in the book of Psalm “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins”. ~ Psalm 25:16-18 (NASB). In my own personal experiences in dealing with loneliness I had to learn in order to overcome this problem I had to admit that it was a real problem for me. Second, I had to learn how to make choices that can enable me to truly overcome it. Here are a few steps to help you overcome loneliness. Oh by the way, these are steps I’ve used personally to help me with this problem. Overcoming Loneliness Determine why you’re feeling loneliness- There are many causes on why we have lonely feelings, and experiences that make one person lonely, however, may not affect another in the same way. Here are some reasons for loneliness: Being rejected by other people- You may have experienced this type of loneliness because you have been rejected by others-for example, a spouse, friend, business associate, or others. Often this type of rejection is totally unfair. As a result, it hurts and leaves a feeling of loneliness. Lack of affection while we were growing up- In our culture today, people divorce; parents are busy, especially fathers; and children are left lonely. You see children have tremendous dependency needs. If these needs are not met in their youth years, an emotional vacuum is created and may be very difficult to fill. I remember a couple years ago when I was coaching pop Warner football and one of my players was thinking about committing suicide. As I talked with him more about God and giving him the unconditional he needed, he seemed so happy to have my attention, even for a brief period of time. I asked him why he felt so lonely. He told me he had been very lonely because his father was seldom at home. Rejecting others yourself- In some cases people are lonely because they have rejected others. The reason is because fear of rejection, shyness, an inferiority complex, and many other reasons why a person would choose to be lonely rather than reaching out to develop friendships. As a result, an individual may decide to reject others before others have the opportunity to reject them. Isolating ourselves from God- There is definitely a God vacuum in each of us. We may deny it, we may try to fight it, but we can’t fill the lonely void that only Jesus Christ can fill. You see Christians can to some degree experience this isolation from God as a result of breaking fellowship with him through sin. Even people like Adam and Eve, and David experienced that loneliness. Some Christians experience this loneliness as a result of a break in their fellowship with God. I trust you enjoy reading this blog, and I pray that it helps you as you begin to change your life and achieve great success. This is the beginning of a journey that never ends. I will present Part 2 at a later time. Talk to you soon, Gary R. Johnson.