Cure the Loneliness Epidemic

I have heard the pros of technology and I agree they have their benefits in a balanced place in our life, but not at the cost of dissolving our personal relationships. People are accepting a text, electronic picture, or profile in place of taking the time to meet with another person eye to eye. Without seeing them you are blind and oblivious to eighty percent of the nonverbal communication messages they convey to you through their expressions, tones, body postures, and attitudes.

Without personal interaction you will fail to learn how to have deep respectful conversations about one another’s dreams, world issues, and what is going on in your lives. You will forget how to listen, problem solve, debate, compromise, and how to respect and value one another’s strengths and weaknesses and still get along. You will become disconnected, self-absorbed, and lonely.

God created us to be in a progressive personal relationship with Him and with other people. When we circumvent God’s design we create a personal disconnection and destruction. If you doubt our ability to personally communicate is collapsing take a look around a restaurant the next time you are eating out. You will see at least two people sitting at the same table on their tech devices instead of focusing on one another.

When you are physically present but your mind and spirit are focused on something or someone else you are devaluing the person you are with. I may be old fashioned, but I was taught to honor and respect the time a person is giving you because the gift of time can never be recreated, stretched, or purchased. The person you are with chose to spend their time with you when they could have chosen to give their gift of time to someone or something else. To treat their gift of time and yours as anything less than precious is to disrespect and dishonor them, yourself, and God.

Each one of us is in charge of taking the time to build a strong healthy relationship with God and with one another. When circumstances in your life challenge you, it is vital for you to know you have friends who value you and who will be there for you especially if you do not have family close by. If you are feeling alone, go out and call someone you miss or someone you would like to get to know better and set up a time to meet for coffee or lunch. Make it a rule to keep tech devices away from your personal meetings unless you have a life or death call coming in and you let the person know. Respecting and valuing the time a person gives you nourishes your heart and spirit. If you discover the people you currently call friends are not willing to spend personal time with you, find some new true friends who do. Make relationships fun by taking the time to play card or board games to expand your lines of communication. A little team spirit and healthy competition allow everyone the freedom to learn about one another’s spirit, personality, and ideals. Only you can choose to grow and nourish a heart to heart relationship with God and other people to eliminate the loneliness you have created by isolating yourself from personal contact. Never forget the promise of God: in Christ Jesus you are never alone!