Loneliness/Belonging

A Basque proverb reminds us, “Mountains don’t need mountains, but humans need humans.” Our need for each other is a birthday present given to each newborn child, for keeps. As we embrace this greatest of gifts, we learn to move gracefully in a dance of kinship.

Then why are we sometimes lonely? Whenever we forget our given kinship, loneliness arises. Loneliness is a poignant homing instinct, like that of migratory birds. It guides us back towards this assurance: We are not meant to live cut off from each other, from ourselves, or from the Universal Reality which gives us life. We are meant to dwell in love, which is a wholehearted “yes” to belonging.

We may be tempted to feel that our bond of belonging has shredded or snapped after a painful rejection or a loved one’s death. Our heart breaks. Through that break, we feel ourselves falling into a vastness too frightening for our small selves to enter.

Little do we know that we are falling into safe arms. After all, what breaks when our heart breaks? Only a narrow fear which deludes us into believing that love comes solely from a limited source. When we let go of this anxiety, we tumble into an expansive truth: We have always belonged to something infinitely greater than our small selves. Each sorrow and each joy gratefully accepted opens our heart further, until we come to know that we are fully loved at all times and in all places, and even beyond time and space. Gratitude then knows no bounds.

Deepening Your Sense of Belonging -Whether we have been marvelously supported or terribly mistreated in the past (most of us experience a mix of each), we can now choose to live gratefully so that our sense of belonging grows ever stronger.

Gift People Message Board - Let us know about the people who are a gift in your life and fill your with gratitude.

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