All The Small Things

Pope Francis’s general intention for the month of November is “That all who suffer loneliness may experience the closeness of God and the support of others.”

One stereotype associated with introverts is that they are loners. As an introvert, I can say that it’s definitely not true. The way that introverts work is that we gather energy on our own, and expend the energy when we socialize with others. For me, however, when I spend so much time alone, the energy I get overloads, and I start wishing I had someone to talk to.

While I was seriously happy that Pope Francis was praying for anyone who experienced loneliness, my dad, being the brutally honest realist that he is, reminded me that I can’t really consider myself a lonely person, because I have family, friends, do volunteer work, and have a relationship with God. But, it doesn’t take away from the fact that I still experience intense periods of loneliness in my life.

It seems like during the wintertime, there are people who experience intense loneliness. There’s a sense of “togetherness” that the holidays bring, and many people feel left out from all of the camaraderie.

So what’s something lonely people can do to handle their loneliness? Practice gratitude.

It sounds cliche, I know, especially with Thanksgiving coming around. One resolution I had that started January of this year was that every day, I would notice something that I was grateful for and take a picture of it. More often than not, these pictures would be of small things like a picture of the moon, or a drawing of a child, or a particular Bible verse.

Being thankful for the little things doesn’t sound like a lot, especially when it doesn’t seem like anything’s changing. But Mother Teresa said “Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

I think it’s harder to be grateful for small things than big ones. After all, big things are easier to notice. Sometimes, fighting loneliness requires thinking of a lot of small things to be grateful for and thanking God for all these small things. But each little thing you can be grateful for, is like a penny and all the little things you can be grateful for, can add up to a lot of pennies that can turn into dollars in the long run. The more blessings you notice, the more aware you become of bigger ones, and eventually the big blessing you’ve been waiting for will come around. So for this upcoming holiday season, I challenge you to look for the little things to be grateful for and see what kind of big blessing all the small things will become.