Why Being Alone Is Wonderful
Life is a paradox. Our species thrives off of the idea that we work together in order to achieve a common goal. Whether that goal is hanging out with friends or collaborating on that next big musical hit doesn’t really matter. We tend to engage in groupthink, where we seek harmony by all being alike, in order to relate to one another in pursuit of that common goal. This is contradicted by the necessity for ourselves to move further, to evolve and to achieve things we haven’t before. If everyone thought in the same way, how would we ever envisage an idea that potentially moves us all forward together?
All it takes is one person to change things, one person to stand up tall, say others are wrong and that this is how we move forward. It could be something related to the next fashion trend or that scientific discovery we’ve been waiting decades for, if you are alone and are just the one, cherish it. If you seek to adapt yourself to an environment that doesn’t suit you both you and others will suffer, everyone needs to find their own special environment, unique to them. I am of the belief that we are all different and there is nothing more poisonous in our society than average collective thinking. The “that’s just the way it is” answer is the one that gets me. It doesn’t have to be this way, everyone is truly unique in their own way and if you see yourself not being like others and not quite fitting in with what everyone else is doing, I say that’s great.
George Bernard Shaw had a lovely quote about this:
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
If you don’t fit in, don’t try. The feeling of being alone or lost is actually a virtue in my eyes, it means unknowns, questions to be answered and a new way of solving it. If your mind is brave enough to see you in the world around you by yourself, surely translating that into action in the real world must be the next logical step. Unfortunately human nature gets in the way and we want to adapt ourselves to the world around us once more, logic doesn’t work well when feelings get put in the way. Sometimes that can be a benefit, others not, it’s important for us as a society to know when those times are, when feelings come before logic and where logic comes before feelings. If you get them mixed up you will end up going nowhere and feeling confused.
As someone who has gone all their life not being in the mainstream I know how to live with it, I couldn’t imagine being like anyone else, it seems so boring and so defeatist, the easy option. So if you happen to think you’re entering the unknown or are all alone in your endeavours, good, it means you’re doing something differently to others. If you care deeply about that something, you will devote your life to it naturally, a cause that others simply cannot understand. That’s how we move forward, it’s how we progress, not through combined thinking but through a seed of an idea, of something different, knowing what we want before we get it, dreaming about what could be. There is no reason why being alone should thwart your life chances, in all honesty, I think it should boost it provided you’re in the right place. Sure I for one won’t lead a normal life but if I settle down in my abnormal one I’d like to think I’ll thrive, that applies to everyone in all walks of life. No matter where you mind is now, what your passions and hobbies are, what your lifestyle is, find what you love and do it all the time, become the best at it, you’ll help others in the process and I can think of no greater cause than to help others, especially when they need it.
Weirdly enough being alone out there can give you the different perspective you need to achieve things, while you may seem down and not part of everyone else’s happiness because of it I guarantee you you shouldn’t be, we need to stop and pause from time to time and to evaluate, to make our mark, being alone, unique, one of a kind gives you the perfect opportunity to do that. It’s all mindset, some have it, others do not.