Last weekend, I went to a park to celebrate Canada Day! I got to enjoy great weather (for some, a little too hot), music, activities for children, games, food trucks, and the company of my children. The park must have around 400 people enjoying themselves and connecting with their family/friends. 

We arrived early to secure a good spot for the fireworks and enjoy being outdoors. I also brought my book to read. As I read my book, a man sat behind me. I wasn’t paying much attention and kept reading. 

Later on, I played with my kids, and once I sat back down again, this man took his phone and started typing a message on Facebook. I couldn’t help but notice his message saying, ‘On this Canada Day I feel so lonely’. At that moment, I felt compassion for this man. I didn’t know him, and he was there by himself. With so many people around him, he felt lonely. I closed my eyes and prayed for him, wishing him love, light, and healing. To hope that he will find more meaning in his life than he is currently seeing. To allow him a new perspective and to allow him to have everything/anything he might need to continue his journey. It is my belief that the power of prayer/positive intention makes all the difference. As I didn’t want to intrude, I felt this was the best action that I could take.  

I noticed how he was trying to disconnect from everything that was going on around him. Even during the fireworks, he wasn’t present. He was lost in his own thoughts. 

This made me think about how so many people are suffering in silence. Even when loved ones surround us, we can feel very alone. Even when you try to be involved, there always seems to be this little voice inside that makes us feel not worthy, and automatically we focus on lack! Lack of togetherness, lack of purpose, lack of being understood. I could relate to this man, as I felt alone at one point in my life. 

This was during my marriage and also after! I remember there being a time when I felt very lonely and wouldn’t consider going out with only my kids, thinking that I needed an adult to talk to me. So that I could have this connection that I was lacking. Now, I don’t think twice about being with ONLY my kids. I love their company and have evolved from that dark place. Now, I choose to focus on abundance instead of doubt, shame, or pain. Don’t get me wrong, my feeling is that moment was VALID, and slowly but surely, I also started believing that I could create a better life for myself. 

No one on this planet can make you feel a certain way if you CHOOSE not to see it in their way! We believe that we are impacted by our surroundings and our lives and that we don’t have what it takes to create a new path. Our surroundings can impact our emotions, but it is always US who are in control of the meaning we give a certain circumstance. I learned that every negative emotion that I experienced, from loneliness to shame, to sadness, was there because I was focusing on a part of life that wasn’t there anymore. 

Maybe this man in the park felt disconnected from his loved ones because he didn’t feel worthy enough of their time, or maybe he had gone through a life-changing experience, leaving him to re-create his life. He might feel confused about where to start! Whatever his journey might have been, his emotion of loneliness is VALID! Acknowledging and accepting our emotions requires a lot of strength and grace. I truly hope he finds the grace for himself to keep going and that he can cultivate a new perspective on life. 

When I started to acknowledge my emotions, I also started to get resourceful in finding new perspectives. My old perspectives weren’t serving me, and the new ones were shaped over a period of time, leaving me feeling in control, empowered, and connected. My curiosity and resourcefulness gave me so much joy, healing, love, and light. 

Covid caused lots of people to feel lonely, but as the world has opened up again, this feeling of loneliness doesn’t stop overnight! It feels as if we are in a subconscious pandemic of loneliness! We can be in a room of loved ones and still be lost in our thoughts of unworthiness, and at the same time, we can be in a room of strangers and feel connected. In the park, I felt connected with everyone celebrating Canada Day. I didn’t know the people around me, nor the man behind me who felt lonely, yet I felt connected to all of them. To me, it felt like we all came together to celebrate the freedom of life! 

If you are going through a period where you feel lonely, I invite you to acknowledge your emotion and then get curious about the emotion. Can you invite new perspectives in your life by exploring the emotions and then start living life in another way? A way of freedom, love, light, and healing. I see you, and you are not alone!

Keep mastering your self-image so that your unique light can outshine the world! 

With love and gratitude!