Being alone, and being lonely are often thought of as synonymous terms. Truth be told, they aren’t, only if you think, and chose them to be. Being alone means to be all by yourself, while being lonely means to feel sad without companions around. See the difference? One is an actual state, while the other is a feeling, something in our minds.

In our society today, with so much pressure to constantly be surrounded by other people to prove just how cool and popular we really are on social media platforms, we often will do anything to avoid being alone, such as even hanging out with people we don’t even really like. Unfortunately, sometimes the people that are always surrounded by other people and are considered super popular, are in fact extremely lonely. Maybe even lonelier than the girl sitting at home alone.

Getty Images/DigitalVision/Willie B. Thomas

We can very well feel even lonelier surrounded by tons of people if we’re not with the right kinds of people. If we surround ourselves with people that we don’t really connect to and don’t really support us and make us feel good about ourselves then there really is no lonelier feeling than that. If we’re in a group setting and a conversation is taking place, but we’re not actually a part of it and no one is listening to us, it can feel very helpless and lonely.

Being alone can be a scary thought for most of us, but once we learn to embrace it, enjoy it and accept it, it can be one of life’s greatest gifts. Being alright with being alone means loving yourself and being at peace with yourself. It means you don’t need other people to justify your worth, and you don’t need other people to entertain you because you are so much fun to be with. It means that we know the value and the worth of our time, and know that it should not be wasted on people that will not add to our lives.