.... are we lonely ?

We are all, each and everyone of us, completely and irrevocably alone!
No matters how many friends a person may have ( could also be siblings, relatives or even spouses) , nor how close those friends may be, it does not change then fact that we are each an entity in ourselves. You would have experienced the dismay feeling of being more alone in a crowded room than you were actually physically alone.

A thousand and one persons would have greeted you last year with the question, "How are you? " Have you ever answered that question literally ? Really told those people how you really were ? Told them your personal aches and pains, about your troubles etc etc etc. If you have, you would have noticed a subtle glazing of your acquaintance's eyes after a few moments. Then they get fidgety, and probably leave you talking to yourself !

Your troubles and problems are yours, and nobody really cares. The reason being that others have problems and troubles of their own, and perhaps more important or bigger ones.

So, we are really alone. But, there is a way to relieve that loneliness .......

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) finds that answer lies in overcoming the overpowering dictates of the great "PRIVATE I ." Most of us are imprisoned in that seemingly escape-proof cell of ego, that dark, despairing dungeon of self, and to believe that the entire world revolves around " me ."

Force yourself to be interested in others. Try to think of others as another "I" instead of "he" or "she" or "they."

Instead of thinking of what to say next when someone talks to you, listen to him. If you cannot help, then feign that attention for a start and soon it will be cultivated. Y S always feels a personal loss if he does not listen and learn from others. Y S has a friend who can rattle on and on from topic to topic, issue to issue, theme to theme etc etc etc all the way from Alor Setar to Penang, and ......... back. In his presence, Y S never feels lonely.

If you have trouble listening to people then you cannot be interested in them. You cannot relieve that relentless loneliness until you can be interested in others.

Having retired from 35 years teaching service where Y S used to talk and talk down to docile students, cultivating interest in others and listening to them is a pleasurable change.

What do you think?