Published on September 27, 2004 By The Crusaders In Misc
Now it can be said that humans are somewhat social creatures. We need others around us. We need conversation. We need stimulation. But can we have too much social stimulation that overloads our fragile emotional system?
I like people. I have friends and family. I socially interact....but....I can find if I've had a big couple of weeks full of people and places that I have simply had enough and crave time alone.
At one point in my life I wanted to find the highest mountain with the deepest cave at the top. I wanted to be a hermit...I still liked people ..but I also needed time to be myself without having to manouvre my emotions around others. I did spend a time on a hill top in my tent which proved to work just as well as the mountaintop and cave, though in time I needed people. I needed to talk with my friends. I needed to touch and be touched. I needed to laugh with others....and I ran out of food and water...so back to civilization I headed. Back to communities. Back to routine. Back to socialization. Back to an emotional rollercoaster ride.
We need to be part of a community and social arena...but we also need precious time alone to sort through our thoughts and feelings. We need balance. A balance between time with others and time alone.
I have come across some pretty agro people in my life along with amazing people who I would use the term..'have their heads securely attached'...but for the angry, bitter people I have met I wonder if they have simply an unbalanced system....either they have too much human interaction or too little. From knowing myself I try to relate my experiences to others and I feel that this is a big part in peoples happiness...their emotional stability, the balance they create in their lives in order to be happy and content but not overloaded.
At this point in my life I am so balanced in this way that nothing will knock me off my emotional rock. I have found where I need to be to be happy. Sure things will come along that may shake my world and threaten to catapult me off my secure position and into the depths of emotional despair but I made it here in the first place and I will never forget my way back. Once you know where you need to be and how to get there you will always find your way back.

Are you where you need to be? Are you happy ? Are you still searching for your rock to sit on and look upon your world from the best vantage point you could imagine?

Comments
on Sep 27, 2004
Perhaps I am not where I need to be but I will say that I am fairly happy. (In a cranky NCO sort of way.)
on Sep 27, 2004
Interesting article TC. You know, while I like people, I love to be alone. Just like some other people need to be with others, I need time for myself. I enjoy being around others, but too much gets to me quickly. Of course, losing balance and not spending any time with others can be disastrous to my well being also.

Right now I feel that I am where I need to be. I wouldn't mind being a little farther along in school (like actually in residency and making money), but we are happy. We have rough days, rough nights (last night was one of those), but the good far outweighs the bad. I am still trying to get to the rock to sit on, but am definitely going up the hill with my eye on the prize. And I couldn't be doing that without my family.
on Sep 27, 2004
Perhaps I am not where I need to be but I will say that I am fairly happy.

Though, I am glad you are happy, where do you think you need to be, SSG Geezer? What would be your perfect balance between time with others and time alone?

You know, while I like people, I love to be alone. Just like some other people need to be with others, I need time for myself. I enjoy being around others, but too much gets to me quickly. Of course, losing balance and not spending any time with others can be disastrous to my well being also.

I am pretty much the same, BlueDev...but I have found in the past that I can lean more towards being alone....I love my own company, not in a stuck up kind of way but in more of a conserving my mentaql energy way...that can only last for so long before I feel the need to be part of others lives and for them to part of mine too. I think I have found a pretty good balance that keeps me smiling.

I am still trying to get to the rock to sit on, but am definitely going up the hill with my eye on the prize. And I couldn't be doing that without my family.

Glad to hear you can see where you are headed and if you can see that you are already on your way! And yes, it is hard to do without family. Family is part of the substance and structure that makes up our rocks to stand upon.....and for those without secure family structures it can be an uphill battle.

Actually, at this point in my life...well the last four years ...I have never been alone, I have had my son with me and that factor only makes me stand higher on my rock.