There are moments when we feel more alone, of course. After the divorce. When we head off to school for the first time. When we strike out on our own, start working for ourselves. When we do something that people don't understand, that engenders criticism.
We realize we're on our own. That we have to blow our own nose, as Epictetus said. That we'll have to be our own savior while we can, as Marcus Aurelius wrote. No one but us can solve our problems. No one but us can manage our emotions. We only control what we control. We can only demand the best from ourselves.
But this is not new. You've always been on your own, as Taylor Swift put it. And you always will be.
We can instead let those moments when we feel more alone serve as reminders. That we have the tools to change, that only we get to choose how we react, that we evolve into whoever we want to be.
Because what do you have to lose? You're already on your own, kid. And no one can take you away from you. Only you can do that.
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