The Importance Of Valuing Your Time To Yourself.

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There is a saying that most of us have probably heard at some point in our lives. It is also a statement that can be found in the good book. The saying that I'm referring to goes; "Man isn't meant to be alone." Now there are various contexts in which this statement can be viewed. For the most part, I believe that most people associate this statement with the idea of marriage and a a union between a man and a woman. Though this may be the way in which this statement was intended to be, there are also those that may view it from the perspective of general companionship. When we talk about general companionship, we're referring to not only a partnership with someone that we're in love with, we're also talking about having a healthy social circle as well. This means that we have a a friend or friends that we can count on to be there for us, or we have a strong relationship with our family members. There can be a mixture of all of these examples in our lives that help us to never truly feel alone in this world. Now the following statement that I'm about to make totally comes from my own personal perspective, so I'm not saying that this is the be all or that this applies to everyone. However, I have noticed that this world that we're living in strongly pushes the idea of never being alone. There has become this belief that if a person is consistently by themselves, then something must be wrong with them. It's like in order to be accepted by this world, people feel that they have to always be around other people constantly. While I am a firm believer that it is wise to try and keep a healthy balance of being around others and being off to yourself, I have found that there can be many benefits to having alone time to ourselves. As I have mentioned already, I don't feel this is the case with much of our society. Because time is so valuable and never promised to us, it is important to value your time to yourself.

Check 1-2, check 1-2! Hey what's going on everyone? It is Brad H. coming at you all once again, and I'd like to welcome you all to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Here at Brad H.'s Perspective, I try to provide some wisdom and inspiration that will hopefully be beneficial to us all in our everyday lives. I hope that everything has been going well for you all since the last topic, and if that hasn't been the case for some of you out there, I am hopeful that things will continue to improve in your lives. There wasn't anything happening that I felt noteworthy of using my soapbox to talk about before getting into this week's topic, so I wanted to share a recent family experience that I had. Now I'm sure that many of you probably do what I'm about to say pretty frequently, but there is a point that I'm hoping to make with this. So earlier this week, I watched a documentary movie with two of my close family members. The beautiful thing about this was that it reminded me a lot of past times when people could watch movies together and not be distracted by technology. It made me think back to when people could go out and eat dinner with family and friends and not be looking down at their phones every 2 minutes. We live in a world that is technology driven, and there are a lot of good things that come with technology. However, many of us have become zombies to our phones and electronic devices. Some of us would rather stay in on the computer rather than going to spend time with other people. Some of us can't enjoy a television show or movie because we're always looking at our phones. I just want to encourage people to remember that it is okay to turn off your phone for awhile. It's okay to step away from your computer or laptop for awhile. These devices aren't going anywhere, but special moments with the people you care about are going to be limited. The experience that I brought up, though it may be fairly simple was one that I'm going to remember as one of the best days of this year, and I'm truly grateful for it. Alright, now that I've gotten that out of the way, it is time to get into this week's topic of the importance of valuing your time to yourself.

Before we dive more into the topic at hand for the week, I'd like to go ahead and give the normal disclaimer that I give before all of the segments that I cover. I always try and hammer down the point that because we're all different and unique within our own right, we all have different ways of viewing things. The goal with these topics is to hopefully provide some inspiration and insight that will not only help to keep us moving forward, but also to encourage some critical thinking. I believe that an experience that gives us an opportunity to learn something new or see something in a manner in which we may not have before isn't a wasted experience. Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with me on this topic, and that is totally fine. I'm not here to try and force my beliefs on anyone else. I just want to share some of my ideas and thought processes. Any and all feedback whether it may be good or bad is welcomed here. As for how I arrived at the topic of the importance of valuing your alone time, I would just attribute it to something that I've been thinking about a lot recently. I can't speak for anyone else but me, but I find now that I'm getting older that I tend to prefer being off to myself a lot. Now I'm not trying to imply that I'm antisocial, or that I don't like being around people anymore. No, this isn't the case at all. I just feel that spending some time off to yourself on a daily can be a good thing for some of the reasons that I'm going to point out. As I alluded to earlier, many people in this world seem to only feel complete when they're around others. In a world where validation from others is what most people are seeking, most people will go to all kinds of lengths to appease to this world. One of the hopes that I have with writing on these topics is the idea of thinking outside of the box. Now everyone's circumstances are different, so I understand if many people just aren't able to spend quality time alone. However, for people that may not totally grasp this concept of alone time, I hope that I'm able to point out some things that can help encourage people look for more ways that will allow you to do so.

Now I'm sure that many of you have heard of the saying, "Alone but never lonely." This is another one of those phrases that I've heard quite a bit throughout my life also. What exactly does it mean when a person says that they're alone, but never lonely? As with the majority of statements and phrases that we often hear mentioned on a frequently basis, I think there is a multitude of meanings and contexts in which a person can mean when they say this. I personally feel that it is one of those phrases that people use to describe themselves when they feel that people don't quite understand or get them. I kind of liken it to another phrase that we've heard; "In a room full of people, but feel alone." I see it as a situation where you know that you have people that care for you and are there for you, but you often feel misunderstood, which in turns makes you feel alone. Now again, there isn't a single context in which to view this, but this is how I personally see it. I bring all of this up to aid in showing that although a person may have people in their life, it is also possible to feel alone at times. To be fair also, I think that most of us if we're being honest feel alone at times. I think that is one of those natural feelings that we all have occasionally. The thing to keep in mind is that there is a difference between feeling alone sometimes, and constantly feeling alone. Just like I mentioned earlier, a healthy balance of most things is the key. Of course nobody wants to feel alone, but as the theme of this topic suggests, being alone at times can have its benefits.

So why do I feel it is of importance to value the time we have to ourselves? I think that one of the biggest reasons why I feel this is important is due to the fact that it helps in teaching us to be comfortable within our own skin. It is a known fact that some of us aren't always our true selves when we get around certain people. We sometimes do and say things that we normally wouldn't do or say because of who we're around. I believe that when a person learns how to be comfortable with being alone, they develop a certain kind of strength that helps keep them grounded. Because a person that exhibits this kind of behavior knows who they truly are, they are not likely to get too far away from themselves even when they're around others. The same mindset applies when it comes to our society that pushes the idea that we shouldn't never be alone. A person that is comfortable within their own skin likely doesn't care too much about what other people say or think of them. Another benefit that I feel comes along with valuing your alone time deals with not having to deal with a lot of drama and gossip. If we're being real here, most of us have gossiped and talked about others. However, there are some of us that also don't like participating in these acts as we mature. Keeping away from people that do these kinds of things is good for your mind. Not speaking for anyone else, but I find that my mind and spirit feels much more clear and at ease when I'm not around people that do these things. Before moving on the next and what I consider the be the most important thing about valuing your time alone, I want to reiterate that I'm not suggesting that we should just avoid people. Again, I'm trying to show that there can be benefits to being alone sometimes.

Finally, I feel that valuing your alone time helps you to learn about yourself. Now I'm not saying that I'm right about what I'm about to say. This is just a personal theory that I have. I think that one of the reasons why so many of us only feel complete when we're with or around others deals with not truly knowing ourselves. Too much of who we feel that we are is tied to other people, which in turn makes us constantly gravitate to others. Ever seen someone that goes from relationship to relationship, and they are rarely if ever by themselves? In my opinion, that is a behavior of someone that has tied too much of who they believe they are to others. From my perspective, someone that often spends time alone learns about the kind of person they are and who they want to be. Furthermore, you discover things about yourself that you may not have even known before. For example, you may find that you discover new hobbies and ventures that you probably never even considered before. You can engulf yourself in these new passions, and you'll find that you don't always need people around you to feel happy. I believe that self-discovery is how we make ourselves better for this world and others. If you know who you truly are and what strengths and weaknesses that you have, it enables you to be the best person that you can be for others. I personally see this as something that many of us are missing out on, which is why I want to encourage everyone through this topic to see that being alone isn't always a bad thing. I would suggest that everyone that is able to do so, try and spend at least 10 to 20 minutes a day of reflection on yourself if you aren't accustomed to doing so. You don't have to cut people off or isolate yourself, but I guarantee that you'll discover things about yourself that you may not have known.

Alright everyone, I think that'll bout do it for this topic. I hope that those of you that read this was able to get some understanding from it. I also hope that it served as some inspiration. This is Brad H., and this has once again been another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! As always, thank you all once again for stopping by. I can't say enough how grateful I am to know that there are people out there that are interested in what I have to say. If anyone has any feedback or comments, please feel free to drop those below. You can also hit me up on Twitter @BradrickH if you'd like. There has been a lot of rain here in Texas the last few days, and now the temps are heating up. Despite that, it is still a nice day outside to enjoy. I hope you all have a great weekend, and an even better week ahead. I'll see you all in the next one. Till then, take care of yourselves and keep on keeping on. Peace!

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