Feeling Lonely at Night?

I am pretty positive that I am not the only one who has had those nights that seemed to never end. You know those nights where you feel really lonely, you can't sleep, and it's too late to call anyone....over the years I have learned a few things that I can do to try to make it through those nights and I thought that I should share some of them with you.

Let me know in the comments how you deal with these feelings because I am sure that we can all help one another!

1. Go to bed early. Often times we start to feel sad just because our body is tired and it's our way of feeling "cranky". So make sure you're getting enough rest by going to bed before 11pm if you can.

2. Invest in your friendships. It's tempting to get so busy with our lives that we ignore our friendships. Or you may think that facebooking your friends is enough but it's important to spend face-to-face time with our friends. So be sure that you are taking the time to actually spend time with your friends in real life and not just on the internet.

3. Spend time with God. God wants to spend time with you and when you choose to spend time with him, you will also find that you will have less anxiety about being alone.
Don't underestimate just how peaceful God's presence can make you feel. So be sure to spend daily time with God through devotions and worship.
One of my friends says that she likes to believe that when she feels lonely, it's God's way of trying to connect with her.

4. Go out during the day. All of this may seem unrelated to being able to help you at night, but it TRULY does help you feel better at night. We all have our routines but try something different. After work, go to a bookstore and read for 20 minutes. Take your children to the park or take them to the library after school to do their homework (instead of at home) and you go and enjoy a magazine. You'll be less likely to feel pangs of loneliness at night if you choose to invest your day time hours wisely.

5. Play music. Sometimes our feelings of loneliness can cause us to struggle with insomnia so instead of staying up all night watching TV-turn on some soft music or use a sound machine to quiet your mind and comfort you.

6. Read. Did you know that people who read are less likely to feel lonely than people who don't? Yes, it's true! So read a book before bed. Maybe try a classic piece by writers Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte.

7. Admit it. Maybe you're reading this-at night and you're already feeling lonely and you just want to get past this moment....then I say, admit the truth. Tell yourself, "I am feeling lonely right now but I know that this feeling will pass and that I will be ok. This is normal and I'm not weird or crazy for feeling this way or feeling sad about it, I will be ok. This will pass." Sometimes just allowing ourselves to feel the way we feel can help us out a lot. When we ignore our feelings we can cause more anxiety and sadness, so admit it and then remember that this moment WILL pass.

8. Write. Write in your journal and write out your feelings and thoughts....journaling is an excellent way to find out what you're really thinking. Often times we ignore our feelings because we don't have time to deal with them so write out how you feel and you may find that you can find the root of our loneliness just by stopping to write about it and once you find the root, you can begin to work towards solutions.

What do you do when you feel lonely? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to share this with your friends since you never know what someone is struggling with...

(Image Courtesy of [Evgeni Dinev]/http://www.freedigitalphotos.net)