Welcome to DS. It does help to talk to people on here. Many of us are ahead of the game with the isolating and know how to do it. There is also an anxiety board that is quite active.

Hi Blessed,

thanks for sharing. This forum is a great way to interact with others who share our same struggles. Someone else posted something last week that made me laugh.

All this advice is floating around everywhere about social distancing and how people are coping with it. I laughed and stopped and thought, social distancing is how I live my life most every day. All these "normal" people are getting a taste of what loneliness is all about because they have no choice.

Hope you find some friendship and hope on these forums. Welcome to DS

Hi Blessed,
I've struggled with social anxiety my whole life too, beginning with my parents not allowing me and my sisters to have friends over.
Yes I played with my sisters as a child, but that was it. We didn't go out much, didn't socialize at all.
Soooo........I don't have many people to talk to either, growing up that way didn't make many friends. And I have no lifelong friends. I always envied people who still had some friends from Grammar school.
Anyhow, enough about me. Please feel free to post problems and issues, and I'll be happy to help you if I can. Good lluck, you'll enjoy it here!

Hi Blessed2020:

Welcome to DS. Thanks for reaching out and engaging with us. I'm fascinated that you feel blessed (name) while being lonely? Are the two emotions mutually exclusive? In other words, please tell us why, despite the anxiety, you feel blessed. I also find it interesting that you don't have many friends yet I like you already. If you please, share what you like to do, and perhaps we can share with you where you may find others who like the same things. Please keep in touch.

Hi Blessed,
Welcome to the group!
Thank you for reaching out. I hope you will find the friendship you need through this forum. Keep sharing. In my experience, I found that online groups like this can be very helpful especially now that we are going through a crisis.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and feelings, you are not alone and we are here to listen.

Keep us posted. Take care of yourself. God bless.

It's nice to meet everyone!

angelwallace: thank you :) How are you feeling lately?

shakyinside: thanks for letting me know. I'll check out the anxiety board too. How is your day going?

SunnierDays: That is so true how people with anxiety already deal with varying levels of isolation in their everyday lives. I could barely leave my house for years because of panic attacks, but I've been trying so hard to overcome my social anxiety. I finally got a job this past November, which has been such good exposure for me. But now that everything is closed down, it's funny how I actually miss going to work and being able to talk to people there. How have you been doing recently? I hope you're having a nice day :)

maria718: I'm sorry that you struggle with social anxiety too. I actually had a similar childhood. My parents were quite strict and I was not encouraged to have a social life, which only made my social anxiety worse. I forgive them though because they were only trying to protect me. I can relate to not having any lifelong friends, but I'm hopeful about making new friends. I would enjoy hearing more about your life :)

8Twenty8: I absolutely feel blessed for everyday that I get to be alive, even the bad days are learning experiences :) It may not feel very nice on the bad days, but they help us grow into stronger people. Loneliness and gratitude are not mutually exclusive in my opinion. I felt such intense loneliness for over a decade. I would cry myself to sleep night after night because I felt trapped in my house by my anxiety, having daily panic attacks. Part of me was hopeless and thought my situation could never get better, but at the same time another part of me was still grateful that I even had a house to live in, food to eat and the possibility that if I just kept fighting maybe one day it would get better. I still long for friendship with others, and I still have moments of painful loneliness, but I'm very lucky that I didn't give up when I thought I wanted to.
Thank you for being so kind. I enjoy reading, cooking and going for walks in nature. What do you like to do? And I'm curious if you believe those two emotions are mutually exclusive? Have a great day!

eli_mom: thank you very much for your reply. It made me feel less alone already :) I'm really glad I found this online group. How have you been feeling during this difficult time?

Hi Blessed_2020,
Anything you want to talk about, I'm listening. Want to tell me about your fondest childhood memory? Your worst? Or just talk about the weather? I'm down to hear it all.
These days have been pretty hard for me, but I'm trying to look at the bright side. It was a beautiful day today. My mom came by to chat with me and that did not go well. I still sometimes cannot communicate with her without a lump forming in my throat. I'm taking things one day at a time.
Hope to hear about you.
Take care.

Hi redrover: Thanks for offering to listen. I'm sorry that you've been having a hard time lately, and that your visit with your mom didn't go well. Taking it one day at a time is a great approach. If you want to talk more about anything, I'm here for you too :) I would enjoy hearing about your interests and hobbies. Have a great day!

HI Blessed: Thanks for your response. Your optimism and appreciation for what you have (not just the problems), reflect more than just your attitude but it may also be a Call! Based on what you share, I feel people need you more than you need people.

Besides this Daily Strength site, there are many people that need to hear your story and share in your optimism and attitude. Perhaps you can contact churches, support groups, schools, etc. who have the need to support the lonely, anxious, even the grieving. You have a gift and oh, by the way, the personal bond formed in these interactions is forever. You don't need to seek friendship in these relationships, it is a by product of these relationships.

And yes, Blessed, I also believe that someone can be lonely yet embrace what truly is important in our lives. Most people find it very difficult to focus on the positive when the negatives are so demanding of our time and emotions. You have found the Source that helps you do this and I believe it is no accident (Romans 8:28). Let us know what you do next.

Blessed,

your story echoes my own experience. I too struggled to just get out of the house my anxiety was so bad. It's been an uphill struggle ever since, but one I've mostly overcome. Same with social anxiety. I have self-isolated most of my adult life, but in recent years have started to reach back out again.

All my socializing pretty much has occurred at work, but the problem now is that I got a new job last year and my role has changed. So now all those co-workers with whom I socialized are all off the table as potential friends because friendships would constitute a conflict of interest.

My first recent attempt at making a friend failed, as the person was resistant to repeated attempts to socialize. But I didn't let it get me down. Just have to try someone else. I have also rekindled a very old friendship from childhood. Somehow I had managed to still keep up with this person over the years, and I am very glad to have this person in my life.

I have to agree with you 100% - I practice gratitude and loneliness almost daily. Gratitude can be practiced in all circumstances, not just when you are super happy or have a super awesome social life. It's just saying thanks that I'm alive or thanks that my material needs are provided for or thanks that things aren't worse than they are, etc.

I feel lonely. I don’t have any close friends or relatives...no one who I interact with on a daily basis. I have a daughter but we’re not real close.
I have been texting my friends but now realize they aren’t that close of friends. No one will engage me in ongoing conversation.

Hi, I don’t have close friends or close relatives and have been feeling lonely. I have a daughter but we are not real close.

I’ve been texting my friends, but none of them have been willing to engage in ongoing conversation.

There is no one I interact with On a day by day basis.

Hi Blessed! Welcome to DS! I have been on here, with occasional breaks, for the better part of at least 5 years(mostly in the Depression group) and have found it to be helpful. People are supportive and kind.
I am fortunate to have friends who have seen me through the worst, some since 7th grade, and that was 51 years ago. Even though I talk to them, it gets lonely since I live alone and of course during this time of self isolation it's even more difficult. Even before all this I didn't get to see anyone very often due to distance and health and depression issues I was dealing with. It's really frustrating. I used to be a social, bubbly, and outgoing person and for a while I was just a shell of that. Slowly I am returning to that person, but right now lives are on hold and I do get lonely. Thank goodness for my cats!
I am grateful for what I have and am fortunate to have a wonderful therapist who has been doing video sessions for a couple weeks.
Hope you find some support on this site! Looks like many have already reached out to you. If you want, send a friend request, then you can message me anytime.
Sending hugs and support!!