The benefits of solitude are benefits that you can’t measure.
Contrary to popular belief, being alone doesn’t mean lonely. There is a difference difference between the two.
Loneliness has nothing to do with being physically alone, it is a state of mind. The opposite of being alone physically is solitude. This is another mindest but this one is beneficial to your mental health. The belief that you constantly need people around you to not feel lonely is misleading. This ideology leaves many people confused.
There isn’t any room mentally to think or listen to your own thoughts, This is why solitude is needed.
Without solitude, you are always in a state of confusion because you can’t tell which thoughts are your own. This is the downside of not getting enough time alone.
But there are many other benefits to having solitude in your life.
- Creativity is boosted during your time of solitude. It comes from a place of clarity and peace. It is challenging to think when the mind is always at work internalizing everything in your surroundings.
- Problem solving becomes easier. When life’s problems arise, the first thing that comes to mind is asking for advice or even googling them. Not every problem has a logical solution. Sometimes you have to find creative solutions and you can only do that in solitude without influences from the world.
- Depending on how you feel about yourself, your self-awareness goes up. Your mind has over 1000 thoughts a day. When you are by yourself, you will be forced to confront your thoughts. It is best not to label these thoughts
I discovered the benefits of solitude when I started traveling. I had this epiphany when I was on the airplane.
For some reason, I started solving problems in my life with ease. I was never able to do this in my day-to-day life. The one thing that changed was clarity.
Clarity was difficult to come by in my personal life. Everyone and everything is constantly pulling at my attention like a game of tug-a-war. When this happens, your mind is always at war thinking and obsessing.
Your mind is never at rest.
Being 30,000 feet in the air where nobody can get a hold of you projecting their needs onto you and having no internet access for mental stimuli gives your mind a break.
“Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.”
Being alone and having solitude is not a negative thing. Being alone has a negative stigma attached to it.
How do you find solitude in your busy life?