Learn to be alone

"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves walk the path." Buddha.

We are fast coming to the time of year when we can be the happiest ever or the loneliest person in the world.

Christmas time is looming up on us, many of us are aware considering priorities with limited money to spend, Covid threatening to change our plans, a year ending and all the things that happened in 2022 tumbling around us.

We cannot please everybody. I have found that trying to keep everyone happy is a most lonely place to be.

My Angels assure me that sometimes we need to be alone, not to be lonely, but to enjoy the free time of being ourselves. I have never found it easy to stand in a crowd and standing alone takes courage.

Do not get me wrong, I have enjoyed immensely a life of working with children and young people, people in churches, refuges, drug and alcohol rehabilitation units, prisons, in homeless shelters and places that provide for those who are struggling.

I enjoyed feeding hundreds for Christmas dinner in the Memorial Hall along with many volunteers and then taking out meals to those who lived alone.

Now I find myself looking forward to an adventure, to pack up my bus and head off around the North Island on my own. As some of you know I will not be completely alone as I travel with my constant companion dog, Jazz.

Over the last year I have found one good thing about being alone and that is that I have so much time for myself. Time that allows me to reflect on the world I live in, the struggles of our nation in a struggling world.

I listen to the wisdom shared by the Angels that are all around us when they encourage us to empower our minds by developing positive minds filled with compassion, wisdom, and love. To put energy into being emotionally strong and able to bring happiness to those around us. It is with this in mind that I head away.

So, my friends, learn to be alone and like it. As Mandy Hale, a New York Times best-selling author and creator of the social media movement The Single Woman, says, "There is nothing more freeing and empowering than learning to like your own company."

Do not be afraid to be what you are because all you can be is you.
Arohanui. Shirley-Joy