Lonely in a crowd

QUESTION: Masters, I am so incredibly lonely. Not me, and not us as a small family are able to create a good life with friends and positive relationships. All we experience is sporadic encounters, and after – it seems like the other people just forget we are here. I think right now we could just die and nobody would notice it. I have no idea of how to choose the positive alternative and gain spiritual wisdom from this. I don’t know what the lesson is here. I have looked at my feelings of not good enough, and not deserving, but this doesn’t change this issue. I would appreciate some light on this matter so I can go forward. ~Anne, Norway

ANSWER: Your difficulties do stem from the way you feel about yourself. Your feeling of being unworthy of other people’s trust and attention, your low self-image, and your lack of confidence all prevent you from being able to fit in with others around you.

Once you have established a connection with someone, you shift all the focus onto them to maintain the association. You feel once you have joined some group, it is up to them to make the next move. It is almost like when you went to school, you got yourself there but then left all decisions and directions up to the teacher and took no responsibility whatsoever for bolstering or enhancing the experience.

When you sit idly by and expect your newly acquainted friends to initiate all further contact, they get the idea you don’t really want to know them and be friends with them because you have nothing to contribute to the union. You must be proactive. You have to call them and plan to go for coffee or a stroll.

You and those you come in contact with are all the same. All souls broke off from Source energy and have the same powers and abilities. One of those is total freedom of choice. In your case, the choices involve how you wish to interact with others.

You need to start with seeing yourself as a magnificent piece of Source. You have had previous experiences that you can share with others, but it all starts with loving yourself for everything you have been able to endure. When you step back and get out of the fear that you have drawn to yourself, choose to embrace happiness in being free to join with others. Get rid of all the negative expectations of failure to which you have been clinging.