(01-04-2022, 11:33 AM)lost_squirrel Wrote: Thank you for your thoughtful and caring response. Everything you said makes sense to me. Intuitively, I know that it is true as well--that my identification with the ego is what is causing me so much distress. It is just hard sometimes to keep this perspective, since I often begin comparing myself to others my age who appear so well-adjusted and so connected with each other.
The ego is one persistent bastard. It is very difficult to keep him at bay.
I relate to a lot of what you are going through. I am almost graduating college now and have felt very insecure these past four years because of my troubles with making friends. I've spent countless hours judging myself while I watch groups and groups of friends walk past me. But one day I started counting, keeping tallies on how many people are walking alone versus in groups, and the number walking alone greatly exceeded that of groups. This is obviously not a reliable metric, but it was a good reminder that I am not the only one who is lonely.
I'm not sure your age, but the backside of the millennial generation along with beginning of gen z seems to me to be terribly lonely. I think technology has partially delayed our social development.
Also, those well-adjusted and connected people are not perfect. I tend to idolize people who seem to have friends as having something I don't have. But they struggle too. Maybe with self-awareness, connection with self, or a deeper understanding of reality. All things that you and I may have by the boatload. We all have strengths, and we all have places we'd like to improve. I think a great challenge for me this incarnation is learning to be myself around other people, and letting them into my life. More than that, inviting them into my life. My progress is terribly slow hahaha
![[+]](https://www.bring4th.org/forums/images/collapse_collapsed.png)