Embracing Solitude: The Importance and Benefits of Me-Time

Does the idea of being in solitude and alone scares you? Is there a constant need in you of wanting to be around anybody physically? Are the silence so loud whenever you are alone?

Let's learn to look the other way of embracing solitude, enjoy the silence and the bliss of being alone. People are often so accustomed to doing activities with people, giving attention on social media, hanging out in herds, and in return, forgets about the positives behind solitude and alone-time. (aka "Me-Time")

Embracing solitude allows you to reap the following benefits:

1. Improved self-confidence

Nothing exudes more confident than being extremely comfortable in your own skin. By being in solitude, you can be fully aware of your consciousness living in a "vessel", which is your body. The moment will strike you in moment of solitude. We are so often on the move doing things and how often does it strike to us that we're looking at the world through a shell.

Take this moment of quietness to acknowledge the vessel you are currently in and make peace with it. If you are not in your desired look, take this moment to reflect what change do you want and what are the steps you are comfortable in executing to achieve the goal. There is no lose in this reflection, just wins.  

Be comfortable with how you are now, and be aware of how you want to be in the future.

This will greatly boost your self-confidence in general.  

2. Understanding yourself on deeper level

The best time to understand yourself and have an honest, uninterrupted conversation with yourself is during your "Me-Time". All of us have our monologues throughout the entire day, whenever we decide what coffee to drink, what outfit should we wear on Tuesday morning, what's for dinner, how do I do this work and etc.. We make so many quick decisions throughout the entire day, quick considerations about the pros and cons of our next action; quick vibe check on what food craving sounds good right now.

We are always ON THE GO.  Have we ever take a moment to understand ourselves on a deeper level?

With personal solitude, a 1-on-1 conversation with yourself can happen peacefully, slowly and mindfully. It is a great time to check in with yourself. Some example prompts to ask yourself :

"What matters to you the most right now? Are you happy with where you are standing in life now?"

"How are you feeling for the week? Is there any problems you'd like to get it out of your way that has been bothering you for a long time?"

"Are your values being met and fulfilled? Do you have any and are you content with it? Does it require a revisit?"

and many more...

Be creative with your conversation. Leave criticism and judgement aside, it is a conversation between you and yourself. No one's opinion and judgement matter at this time. Learn about yourself on a deeper level.

3. Positive impact on social interaction

The relativity seems far, but let me explain it in a way on how are everything linked up. While there might be misconceptions of people who spend a lot of time with themselves would wind up being more selfish and self-centered. I certainly do not think so. Hear me out.

During alone time is where you understand yourself and create self-awareness. The dialogue you have with yourself is essentially how your dialogue is with people around you. Having the awareness is the first step of creating positive social interaction because you will learnt what to say and what to NOT say to people. We as humans are so quick to respond on what first pops up in our mind, there will be times where the respond ticks people off the wrong way because we do not process our thoughts.

Moment of solitude gives you a reflection practice, reflecting on your choice of words with yourself, reflect the impact it has towards the others, then seek improvement and use better choice of words in conversations. This will greatly improve your social interaction in general.

4. Plan ahead for future - leave no regrets

From Mondays to Fridays, we are busy with colleagues, commuting and family; During Saturdays and Sundays, we are busy with side hustle, family and friends.

When are we busy with ourselves? Hardly. We are busy ourselves, but not WITH ourselves.

But how are we progressing and growing the relationship with ourselves if we don't spend "Me-time" at all? If we do not fork out time to map out and plan ahead our future, we are never going to do anything different day by day. "Me-time" and solitariness can help us achieve that. It is hard at first, not knowing where to start thinking. With more "Me-time", gradually thoughts would hit you.

"What if I could do x,y,z... in x,y,z months to come?"

Sounds great isn't it? That is your first plan ahead for future! Life is great when there's anticipation. People often call it "The-Next-Big-Thing". Chasing the next big thing is not always negative, it can also be perceived as a positive energy in life. A driver of your life purpose.

By having continuous purpose and pursue, it will leave no regrets in the future. Because there is not one moment where you did not do what you wanted to do. All thanks to "Me-time", you have time to think of future plans and goals, you have planned your action steps and you achieved it with all your "Me-time" set aside.

Regrets, are dying wishes of a dead person. Let's built ourselves a life ahead without regrets as an alive person!

Schedule yourself "Me-time" in the calendar right now!