Loneliness may be more of a health risk than obesity. Examine your own lifestyle and assess if you need to increase your social interactivity.
Increasing your social activity
There are numerous ways to increase your social activity. Consider how you might incorporate them into your lifestyle in an easy and positive way.
- Community centre activities
Your community likely has recreation centres, libraries, and community centres with numerous opportunities for you to engage with others. Check with your local centres as to what is available and what appeals to you. - Engage in some sort of social activity locally
You may have opportunities for social interaction nearby if you do a little research. Libraries offer many activities for social engagement: book clubs, movie nights, coffee meetings, and such. Find something that interests you and join them.If you say, “Nothing interests me,” you may have a problem. Join something and you may find your interest really grows as you engage with other people in the group. You need to take the first step, any step and in no time you may become very positively engaged. Become part of the new movement known as the “YES” movement.
- Tim Horton’s at the very least
At the very least, get dressed and go to a coffee shop nearby. Do this once or twice a week. Eventually, someone will see you as a regular and nod your way. Say something to them, nod back, be welcoming, smile. You never know, you may be helping someone else with their loneliness challenges. - Take a course, any course
Take a course if your budget permits it, any course. A computer course, an art course, a writing course, something which interests you. If you are a shy person by nature, the course will give you structure by which you can more easily engage with others and others will talk with you. The engagement will be productive and positive for you but remember, the idea is not to become a computer geek or a Pablo Picasso. It is just to be with people and talking with others. - Attend a spiritual service
Perhaps a place of worship may appeal to you. Then, consider attending a service somewhere, the denomination may not be as important as simply attending. You may hear some beautiful singing. Better yet, you may derive a lot of pleasure in joining the congregation as they sing songs of worship. The comraderies and spiritual community may help alleviate your feelings of loneliness and depression and boost your health.
You may not think so, but loneliness can kill you. Being on your own, alone, always is not healthy. This is now a studied fact. If you are in that situation where you are alone all the time, examine your life and find where you might make changes to it to engage you more with other people. You never know who might benefit from this effort. You? Others? Or both.
