Being Alone

Alone time is and has been an ignored delicacy of the human experience. Society typically deems being alone as "odd" or "strange," but I believe that the importance of solitude calls for a paradigm shift in the way we see “alone time” and thinking. Alone time and thinking lead to development in a plethora of areas of the human mind.

Becoming Your Own Self

Solitude allows time for individuals to form their own opinions and thoughts. Constantly bombarded with information and opinions from literally everyone, it is increasingly difficult for people to form their own. It seems like common culture for people to find a viewpoint they like and simply adopt it. This causes the mass subscription to underdeveloped ideas that cloud anything from politics to theology. This stunts healthy growth in the respective areas. What happens when we are alone effects what happens when we are together. If we can’t form our own opinions and thoughts in our alone time then we won’t be able to grow corporately.

Processing & Getting Away From the Noise

A good portion of our lives are spent dealing with problems-- whether it's with relationships, with our jobs, etcetera. Too often we push those problems aside and forget about them. Psychologists can unanimously agree that ignoring problems/pushing them aside is not a healthy coping mechanism. It's actually the same people who do that who have a higher tendency to form chronic mental disorders. Taking time to process problems and walk through them in your mind, is not only important but an integral part of healthy living.

Increasing Concentration and Productivity

Being able to spend time alone and process your life opens up your mind for the rest of the day. You won’t have to be processing the problems of your life in the back of your head. This will increase your concentration and productivity. After processing your life, it becomes easier to approach your day with a clear and open mind. The problems that linger in the back of your mind will disappear so that you only have to worry about the task at hand. Something important that we have to keep in mind is that suffering does exist, and it can be endured through alone time and thinking. Processing problems is immeasurably more healthy and beneficialfor your life than brushing them off to the side.

So don’t be afraid of alone time; welcome it as a part of your healthy living choices.