The Importance of Being Alone!

The gift of life is a beautiful experience we share with the people we care about, but at the end of the day, are we spending enough time with ourselves? Do we need more alone time?

Being Alone.

Something I’m really passionate about, especially recently is spending time alone. This may sound silly but it is so so so important for your mental health and overall well-being. You might be thinking that you spend plenty of time alone & it’s not all that. But I don’t just mean laying in bed watching tik-toks. Go, get out, go do something you love to do. Think of something you would want to do with friends and do it alone. It may be a little uncomfortable at first but that’s okay, it is so important to go out of your comfort zone.

Why?

I say that this is so important, not only because you learn to be comfortable alone and less reliant on others for your own happiness. BUT you also learn so much about yourself when you allow yourself to be without the influence of another.

Treat Yourself Equally

Treat yourself like you would a friend or a family member. My most prominent “love language” is quality time. This is often misinterpreted as spending a lot of time with a person. But like most things in life it isn’t about the quantity, it’s about the QUALITY. Quality time with someone you love entails of giving each other your undivided attention, with as little distractions as possible. This is exactly how you should treat your time with yourself.

Relationships

It is so important that you work on the relationship with yourself and loving yourself before you have a healthy relationship with other people. Not only romantically but with your friends. Some people may not agree with the statement that “you can’t love someone else until you love yourself”. Which is completely fair because it really isn’t true. Of course you can love someone despite not being able to love yourself. However, without having that established love for yourself, navigating a relationship with another becomes significantly more difficult. I can’t say that it is impossible to have a healthy relationship with another if you don’t love yourself, but i can say it is significantly more difficult. For your own mental wellbeing it is so important to establish that loving relationship with yourself first.

What Does Alone Time Look Like?

I truly LOVE spending time with myself and make it a point to do things alone. For me my alone time is often outside because that is my favorite place to be. It sometimes includes a book or a podcast, or an activity like painting. Most importantly it includes me sitting alone with my thoughts, which can be SO scary. I have always been the avoidant type with any thoughts i disliked or problems, but i have learned how important it is to work through those things. The easiest way for me to work through my thoughts is through journaling. Alone time isn’t always fun, sometimes it’s difficult and it involves working through hard emotions, but it is ALWAYS worth it.

It Isn’t Linear

Some days are harder than others. It is easy to lose sight of your alone time when there are people in your life you love to spend time with. But it is up to you to maintain the priority of alone time and to establish a healthy balance.

-xoxo jenny <3