The Cure for Loneliness?

"If your suffering is a burden, reach out to ease that of someone else and bring hope to them. . . . Offer compassion when you need it. Be a friend when you need friendship. Give hope when you most need it." --Nick Vujicic, Life Without Limits


I took this quote from the Facebook status of one of my friends. I have often thought these thoughts but have never been able to articulate them so clearly. I often wonder what the world would look like if we all lived with this mindset.

Is this how the world works? I don’t think so. I have often suffered from bouts of loneliness, but in my loneliness, I tended to think that it was the responsibility of someone else to reach out to me. I rarely considered the possibility that my condition might have been purposed to compel me towards others.

It took some time to be willing to invest myself into the lives of others, but by God’s grace, I have begun to do just that. I am blessed to be surrounded by many amazing people who are willing to confront me in love, uphold me in prayer and lean on me in their own need.

I now live out a very different injustice. I now tend to look at my life as if I’m a spiritual super hero. Now that I have escaped the loneliness, I often look at my role as this obscure caped crusader, being that guy who has it together, who is willing to help others put it together. The injustice is barely recognizable, because it has the appearance of nobility; the arrogance of it barely distinguishable.

It’s much easier to claim victim status that to do something about it. Isn’t it? If the lonely reach out to the lonely, will either be lonely any longer?