Many people feel that if they're lonely, that means that they're not likable or that they're broken in some way.
Interpretation
Loneliness can lead to feelings of unlikability and brokenness.
In this quote, Vivek Murthy highlights a common misconception where individuals associate their loneliness with a lack of likability or a perceived defect in their character. This flawed reasoning can exacerbate feelings of isolation instead of recognizing that loneliness is a universal human experience that does not inherently diminish one's worth or value.
In practice
This quote can be used in a mental health seminar to discuss the misconceptions related to loneliness.
I think sometimes in the focus on deep friendships and on romantic relationships, we can lose sight of how important the small connections we make are with strangers and with people that we may encounter for just a few seconds or a few minutes, whether it's the barista at our coffee shop or the stranger next to us on the subway.
Without strong communities, we cannot pull together during times of hardship. Our diversity turns from a source of strength to a source of conflict.
One of the things that happens in our regular lives is that when we're in moments of pain or feeling alone, we may hesitate to reach out to others because we may think - they're not going through the same experiences I am.
There's a tremendous sense of shame that people who are lonely feel. I say that as someone who felt ashamed of being lonely as a child and even at points during adulthood.
Our health care workers are the heroes of the Covid-19 response.
What you quickly realize once you commit to getting more sleep is it can increase your productivity, it can improve your mood. And that doesn't just help you at work, but it helps you be the kind of person you want to be with your family and your friends and that's ultimately what matters most.
If women believed in their husbands they would be a good deal happier and also a good deal more foolish.
Opportunistic relationships can hardly be kept constant. The acquaintance of honorable people, even at a distance, does not add flowers in times of warmth and does not change its leaves in times of cold: it continues unfading through the four seasons, becomes increasingly stable as it passes through ease and danger.
I realized I had been keeping people around even when deep down I knew they were bad for me. I had overridden myself.
Powerful is our need to be known, really known by ourselves and others, even if only for a moment.
It is not good to see people who have been pretending strength all their lives lose it even for a minute.
She was nothing but good and I was nothing but bad, but then she died, and I didn't.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.