The very moment you realize you have time one your hands. What do you do with the time? Reporting to work for 8 hours or more can consume a large part of your day. The next 4 hours of your day may or may not have some sort of homework cooking, cleaning, inspecting chores or other family members responsibilities, extra circulator activity, homework with the children, play dates, school activities, meetings and events or simply hanging out with coworkers and friends. For some we can add higher learning or even another work schedule. We are always busy, if you value family and a sense of responsibility you not only look after your nuclear family you also have an extended family as well.
However, your life may or may not include all that’s listed prior, to some degree most have or had something like this example provided. As we evolve in life so does our experiences and choices we make. What happens when life happens during the process of evolution over the periods of time. Children grow up and may or may not leave home, jobs and or careers change, relationships that once worked, no longer work as well as it did and then 2020 came, and we dealt with death as well as other life issues on a level that we never have before. How does that affect individuals and families? It may appear that all of sudden we obtained a valuable lesson of just how important human interaction is truly valuable, the people we interact with on a daily bases or occasionally, weather good, bad, or indifferent truly is, depending on weather you are employed, have family you live with or family that lives a distance. What are some of the things that could make us feel lonely, alone and or isolated and how does that affect us as we continue to evolve in the journey of life.
Alone – lonely and Isolation all things that can be felt and can have an affect on an individual over time, but first let’s define each.
Alone- Indicating that something is confined to the specified subject or recipient; having no one else present.
Lonely- A feeling; compared to alone is a state of being.
Isolation- an instance of isolating something, especially a compound or microorganism (the isolation of older people) Types of Isolation are: temporal, ecological, behavior, mechanical and geographical, strict, respiratory, protective, enteric precautions, wound and skin precautions, discharge and blood precautions.
As we see the definitions and types it appears that there are times when isolation or being alone is beneficial for one’s life and well-being and others maybe a state of mind and how our lens view of life plays and speak in our mind. As isolation or being alone takes some mind work only because the mind is such a terrible thing to waste. It’s very important to feed the mind what will make your life grow in the positive light even when there is no light. This unfortunately can be a challenge for some for a variety of reasons. It’s so true we become what we think. So, if we think ourselves into a crisis oh woo is me type mindset, we are training our mind that we have no hope and no way out of the most times feelings we may be experiencing during the periods of being alone and or isolated.
In the elderly having too much alone time or isolation is not good as the interaction with others becomes even more so important reasons being that as we age, we lose everything and everyone we had in our lives if we are blessed to live so long. It’s very important to keep them engaged in some way as they are more prone to depression and other health illness when kept alone for long periods of time without having someone to interact with and sometimes your presence is better than a phone call so visit them often and let them know that you love and care for them.
Being diagnosed with a chronic illness can be the root of one isolating or wanting to be left alone for periods of time, this is never recommended especially in the begging. Although the situation can appear sad and gloomy in those moments just having someone close can make a great difference and shine the ray of hope. Life has a way of happening and we have a way of showing up and playing our part or not show up and play our part. Whichever way you decide to show up in your life will determine how you will feel in all situations. Are we always hopeful and joy filled in life and no one expects anyone to be however its how we handle those moments and periods in life when they come? So, one can say our health and wellness goes together and sometimes we are born with biological or chemical imperfections that can also play a part in alone-isolation-and loneliness in life. The worst one of all is being surround with others and experiencing these feelings and situations, go figure it’s as if God has a sense of humor because everything, we experience in life is for our good, to guide us, protect us or just simply change our whole being. Let’s not blame it all on God because we play our parts in our lives as well.
Most people think that Isolation is uncomfortable and can lead to major life crisis. However, that is not always the case especially in the work place. Most work places are where we go to earn our income to provide for ourself & families. The staff will often times react from the culture of the work place environment and how the employees believe they are seen from the employer’s perspective as well as the perspective of the employer all plays apart.
Do they care about their staff and their well-being?
Unfortunately, today many do not have much trust in their employer’s and their concern for employee’s safety and well- being.
Are the staff just a number that produces the outcome the employer wants?
How does the staff view one another and do they have a system in which they use to get the work completed?
How does the staff approach and interact with one another during the work day?
Is there a mutual respect among peers and management?
Do our personal lives affect our work life? How and Why?
Does having support make a difference? Describe the support work or personal.
Does Isolation assist in developing space boundaries, bring you closer to your spirit being/ purpose in life that fusses us together or is it a double edge sword?
If isolation is to be the cause of stress in the work place and our homes, what are the root of the stressors that the isolation brought out?
During the pandemic many employees are doing jobs that once took a team and are now forced to do it as one individual without the support of the team or due to the remote working having to wait longer time for a response and or assistance if needed. This can cause stress as one may have to use their own judgement in solving or coming up with resolutions to problems. Something most employees are not accustomed to doing however, there are the few that can make any situation work in their favor because they take ownership in what they do and how they do it. Sort of like becoming your own boss but not getting the boss pay type behaviors. They become involved in their place of employment through joining committees, teams, or take on positions if the work place has a union that protects the employee’s health and safety during the daily work days, weeks, months, years however, many aren’t up to the sacrifice it takes to fill those types of roles and why is that? Is being a complainer verse a doer get in the way? Would you agree the more involved you become with anything you do in life; it provides you that extra thing that helps us to see the best in every situation or fight until we can’t fight no more or compromise and find that common ground for both the employer and the employee. Then again there’s that moment you realize you have time on your hands and you may have to figure out what it is that you would like to do with that time.
Written by: Tia Rodgers, Life Growth Specialist