Loneliness – the one feeling that most of us would not like to experience and yet, many times in our lifetime there are moments or longer periods of time when we feel lonely. While we know that depression causes loneliness, there are many other reasons that could give you a sense of how lonely or how supported and loved you feel at any given point in time.

 Here are three important things that indicate if you are experiencing loneliness in life says Sidra,

• Wide gap between who you are and who you are showing up as – When you are in acceptance of who you are deep-down, is when you become comfortable in showing up as the true you. However, sometimes for many reasons like being judged or not feeling good enough we stop feeling comfortable in being our true selves and start wearing different masks at different times. And before you know it, you start believing the mask is your real self. When the gap increases between the true you and the you that is showing up, your loneliness increases too. The more you work on reducing the gap between the two, the less lonely you start to feel.
• Loneliness barometer – can you think of at least 5 people you can call in your worst moment, without thinking about what time of the day or night it is, or whether they would be free to talk to you, or what they will think about you if you call them? If yes, then you know you are supported and loved and therefore you don’t feel lonely.  If the answer is a number that is close to zero, then you know you maybe experiencing loneliness.
• Fear of non-acceptance – As human beings it is our innate need to be acknowledged and accepted. Sometimes in life there are moments when you present your truth and it gets rejected. At this point a part of you shuts down in that situation, because you face non-acceptance and this leads to loneliness.
  
  By becoming aware of how you are currently experiencing life, and understanding the above, could help you find a way to untangle yourself from loneliness and feel free.