Alone and lonely!

Most of the birds I sight while walking in our garden are in pairs as this is the mating season for most of them. 

But I find single birds occasionally. 

The single birds in the photo above might have been left behind! I did not find this bird playful or ho around as most small birds do. I could not hear any of its birdsongs. 

It is one thing to be alone and yet another thing to feel lonely!

Is not loneliness a big modern day calamity!  

I think about it a lot as to feel lonely is more common than art it used to be in the past. The 'race to live' which is often referred to as 'rat race' is stressful and disturbing experience for many. Even when all the needs and comforts surround people, the feeling of loneliness can linger on!

The feeling of loneliness is a psychological frame of the mind often created by a temperament, attitude or choice! 

In fact it might be the exceptional people of abilities who might feel this the most. They might not find thought companies or dialogue partners. 

I have had my experience of loneliness for a long season last year. Following a stressful experience while being involved in the governing body of an organisation, I felt alienated by others. They were people whom I had known for fifteen years or more and had a lot of friendly engagements till then. At one point, I felt excluded because I felt contrary to what most of them felt about few crucial issues. When I left the governing board when it was no more possible to reconcile to the situation, I felt an heaviness of 'rejection' falling on me. 

During a recent visit to that institution, few of them happened to be in a gathering and they avoided to greet me!   

Let me suggest that the pain of loneliness is real! It might not even leave you! But while facing such loneliness, one can turn that experience into creative responses to redeem the occasion to feel enriched and enlarged. One grows in tolerance, acceptance and forgiveness, and sees others as potential companions. Even when others do not respond to being companions, it is necessary to see others who take time to resolve their attitudes, as those in a common journey of life with us! 

We can welcome others into our lives even when they may not be ready to be welcoming.  

Think of others graciously and thoughtfully. They need our gentle approach even when they withdraw or unsettle us by their attitudes and opinions. 

Our inmost being can never be a lonely place, because God abides within us giving us the companionship of hope, comfort and inspiration!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)