You Are Fully Capable of Becoming Happy and Confident with Being Alone

I just recently graduated college, and while I am very happy that I not only have graduated, found a job I love, and know I made friends I will have forever, I have been hit with reality. I went to school out of state and made friends that live far away, so now that I am back home, I realize I will never go back to college and I feel as if I am on my own now. Sure, I have a couple of people who live near that I could see but I have recently gotten out of a ‘sitationship’ as they say and I feel as if I am alone. I want to do many things and I want to have fun, but I’m alone and like most people my age, it is very scary doing things by yourself and just coming to terms with it.

While I am trying to come to terms with being alone most of the time, I am also trying to learn that it is okay to be alone with yourself and do things on your own. We have all deemed it to be weird or uncool and depressing but sometimes it can be liberating.

First, we need to know there is a difference between being alone and being lonely. According to an article from healthline.com, being alone is when “you’re just quite content with alone time. In fact, you look forward to it. That’s simply being alone, not being lonely.”

Being lonely is when you’re “surrounded by family and friends but not really relating beyond a surface level, which has you feeling rather empty and disconnected. Or maybe being alone just leaves you sad and longing for company.”

Even though I get this, it can still be confusing. What is important to note is that there can be overlaps between the two, but they are still different. Healthline put it beautifully, explaining “Sure, you can be alone and feel lonely, but the two don’t always have to go hand in hand.”

I wanted to write this to share my fears and anxieties with others in hopes that if you are feeling this way you are not alone. While this post is more of a way for me to journal and express myself, I will be making another one including how being alone and doing things alone is beneficial, as well as what you can try and do alone.