A while back I was evaluating my life, thinking about all the things I have achieved and all the losses. I started thinking about the friends I have kept since school and those that have fallen off. I was reminiscing about my childhood and all the great experiences I had because of my family.
Then I looked around and realised I was sitting on my bed in my apartment, alone. Once all the noise in my head went down, I noticed the silence. The only sounds I could hear were the footsteps of people walking to their apartments and cars driving past the apartment complex I stay in. Over the next few days, I started noticing a few things about the place I stay at. Firstly, most of the people that stay here are young professionals working in different industries. Secondly, most of them greet in different languages meaning they are from many parts of the country. Thirdly, most of the apartments have one tenant. Lastly, most of them leave for work by 7:30 am and return between 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm.
I noticed all these things over a few days, and I started realising they are a bit like me. I am a young professional, my family home is a few hours out, I speak a different language, I stay alone, and I spend most of my day at work. Are you still with me? What I am trying to say is there is some sort of routine and for the most part it is lonely.
The one thing I never expected would come with growing up is loneliness. If you speak to some of your friends, you will notice that this is a real problem. As we get older and have more responsibilities, we tend to become lonelier because we spend the majority of our time focusing on making a living. In the process, we forget to make a life with others. I have friends but I don’t get the chance to see them because I work 5 days a week, sometimes on the weekend. I work from morning to evening, and any free time I have is for me to re-charge my body by eating and resting. This means that you can even spend weeks without talking to your friends on the phone, but you know they are alive because they posted something on social media.
Well, someone might say why don’t you just spend time with your friends then. That is not as simple as it sounds, because your friends are also in their routine. You must make plans to make plans to hang out because no one has time. How sad is that? You find yourself getting into this routine and by the time you wake up you are 60, about to retire, and all you have to show for it is years of working. You are lucky if you get married and have children because then you are maybe not as lonely.
So yeah, being an adult is pretty lonely. If you do get a chance to spend time with those that make you happy, cherish that. If you have someone you can talk to at any time of the day, cherish that. I think our generation needs to do better, our jobs cannot be all that we allow into our precious time. I am going to try to go out and meet people, that’s something. I hope you all try to do the same after reading this. Try to focus on yourself after work, speak to one close friend at least once a week.
