George
Loneliness is sadly something that affects us all in adulthood. You move out of home, work full time and there suddenly seem to be fewer hours in the day to see friends. Ironically, some of the loneliest years of your life will happen in your twenties and thirties yet you always imagined at that age you would be this incredible adult with a swanky house, hot partner and cool friends, constantly club hopping and going out to fancy dinners. Feeling lonely doesn't have to be all doom and gloom though, as we learn more about ourselves and grow a lot during this time. So the question is with all this alone time what do you do? You could work late (I guess) or clean the house (again). My favourite, at first, was just lying on my bed. Until I realised that being alone for a while is a blessing.
If you are wondering how to have fun alone and why it is a blessing then this article is for you. First of all, all of the obvious things like cleaning or working extra I'm not going to talk about, as we want actual fun activities here that contribute to personal growth. Also, it is easy to just ring a friend or a relative and hang out with them, but that isn't teaching us actually how to be alone and content with ourselves, so I shall also be excluding suggestions like that from my list. Instead, we shall break this down into three: mind, body and fun, as this way we are improving and learning but having fun doing so.
Mind
For the mind, this could be anything from learning a new skill to meditation to reading. It depends on what interests you. I do not like to just stick to one mind option as I like to have a variety that I could do that day. Currently, I'm reading books on space and learning coding, but there are a variety of options for you. Mind hobbies could include meditation, journaling, learning a new skill, practising an existing skill, jigsaws or reading. The best way to pick a new hobby to enjoy in your alone time relating to mind is to ask yourself, what would I like to learn more about? Once you have your topic you can then either, read, learn or write on it in one of the above manners.
Body
The best advice I've ever heard on the body is to move your body in a way that feels good to you. This doesn't mean you have to hit the gym every day or run marathons, it just means move somehow. Maybe you like walks in nature, runs with your dog or yoga? If you aren't sure what you like then why not try a new exercise class? There are so many different forms of exercise these days from dancing to pilates to heavy weight classes, so you will find something that floats your boat eventually. I know technically this one involves being around other people, but they aren't people you know so it is still a solo adventure to me. Again to help you out I'll give you a list: any sport, running, walking, yoga, gym; hey even pacing while taking a work call.
Fun
As always I have saved the best until last. So fun can be taken to mean many different things to everyone. I look at it as hobbies and interests. For example, playing video games is fun to me, and playing an instrument may be fun to someone else. This is a very flexible one, which you can have fun with, get it to have fun with. Again some examples can also include drawing or writing if you are more of a creative soul. If you get that stuck you can search online for things like 'fun things to do alone' or 'solo date ideas' as there are so many interesting choices out there. It is all about whatever feels fun to you.
I hope I've convinced you that being alone is a blessing in disguise as you have the opportunity to explore so many new things and pick up new hobbies and habits. It isn't the doom and gloom of just sitting around as we first thought, instead it is an opportunity to learn and explore the person closest to you, yourself.
