What do you do when you are feeling ‘isolated’ or ‘lonely’?

Those words have been surfacing in my conversations over the past couple of months. Many people I have encountered recently in my daily life and throughout my travels have said they seem ‘lonely’ or ‘isolated’ - they feel disconnected from others.

On vacation in Hawaii – a spectacular natural ‘paradise’ – fellow tourists brought up the term. They said they felt ‘isolated’ because they were SO FAR AWAY from family and friends.

Why do people have a fear of doing these events alone? If you really wanted to do something (i.e., go to a concert), would you not go simply because you had no one to go with? I have a friend who went to this huge sport event by himself; he had an amazing time! Should he not have gone because he couldn’t find someone to go with? This sounds kind of silly; but in reality, it is a pretty common choice. I am partially guilty of this as well. Most people have to go to events with others.  These individuals wouldn’t even consider the possibility of going alone; they worry about being insulted, or having nothing to say, etc.  Individuals then think that the notion of being alone is a bad thing.