How to cope with loneliness.

"Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty."

The above quote by Mother Teresa speaks a truth of that many of us are not even aware of today. In this modern and advanced world we live in one almost ever thinks about such a thing. In fact, when was the last time you gave this topic some thought?

Loneliness can be defined as a feeling or perception of being alone. I define it using the word "perception" because you do not need to actually be alone to experience loneliness. Many individuals are surrounded with people they know and yet they experience this feeling.

Who does it affect?

Old, young, middle aged, man, woman, it doesn't matter, loneliness can happen to you. Loneliness is a state of mind in which you can find yourself due to perhaps the death of a loved one, feeling unwanted, being depressed, poor social and communication skills, and many more. Can it be defeated? Yes!

How can you beat loneliness?

Its important to get to the bottom of what is causing you to feel lonely. Are you lonely because of a situation you have control over or not? Its important to make a distinction between things we can change and things we can not. We do not have control over anyone else, we only have the ability to control our thoughts and behaviors.

Once you make this distinction it will be easier for you to start a plan of action.

After you have identified why you might be feeling lonely and if you have control over things you will want to take action. Make a plan of action with one thing in mind, defeating your feeling of loneliness. Talk with a health care professional such as a psychotherapist or counselor, they are qualified to handle and help people who are going through feelings such as this one.

Another tip on defeating loneliness is to do the opposite of what you feel. If you feel like you do not want to meet people, do the opposite, go and meet people. You will be surprised to find out that a lot of the feeling of loneliness is something you have control over and something that can be defeated by changing the way you think about the situations in your life. Chat with a friend or join a free chat rooms or forum site where you can find other people who also feel lonely, this way you can get support and hear other people and what they are doing that helps them cope.

Loneliness is a terrible poverty in the resourcefully rich society we live on today, but its a kind of poverty that can be defeated. You can begin today to help yourself beat the feeling of loneliness.