Alone time is growth time.

To be honest, if someone told me years and years ago that I’d be sharing the importance of alone time on my blog, I’d burst into a fit of hysterics. I’d grown up uncomfortable with the idea of being alone. So much so, to me solitude signaled loneliness, lack of friends, and just being considered “different” or “weird”. It was a space where facing myself seemed like the wrong thing to do because drowning out my thoughts in the company of others seemed so much easier.

I’m not exactly sure when my perspective changed, but it did and boy am I thankful for it.

I guess I just grew tf up and finally came to terms with the notion that alone time is growth time. When you reach your 20’s you feel this overwhelming need to reform. Even if you don’t know what needs to be reformed, you crave the process of reformation. You just wake up one day and want a makeover, both internally and externally. Deciding that you would rather go through the ugliness that process may bring because no good growth results in coming out unscathed to some degree. The process is meant to burn in a way that makes change, hell growth lasting. This is possible when your willingness to be introspective trumps your discomfort with being alone.

Introspection = alone time, which results in growth time.

As I’ve continued to grow in age, I’m also growing in understanding because I’m realizing the above sentiments now more than ever. Alone time doesn’t have to be this dark place that everyone has manufactured it to be. It doesn’t even have to be a place or space that is hard to sit in. Alone time should be seen as a time to look into yourself and examine the things that make you… you. Some of those things may be positive attributes that push you towards being the best version of yourself. While a small few may be blocking you from reaching your greatest potential.

In my experience, recognizing both the good and the bad can only be done through self-reflection.

However, I refuse to minimize how challenging solitude can be initially. Especially if you’re someone who has previously found comfort in the hustle and bustle of the lives around you.

It will be hard at first adjusting to how deafening the silence can be.

You will struggle at first to understand what your inner thoughts are trying to tell you.

Trying to hide from yourself at first will seem easier than facing the possibility of growth.

But damn will it feel great when you come out the other side.

To your alone time being the greatest form of growth you’ll ever be privy to,

Thelms