You may have been tricked into believing that it is not “good” for you to feel lonely. This is not true. Loneliness is either true for you in any given moment, or it is not. In fact, loneliness exists to remind you of something that has always been true about you:

You are made for relationships.

When you do not have quality, mutual relationships, you feel lonely. If you ignore this loneliness long enough, you will become a breeding ground for all sorts of issues.

According to Psychologist Juliann Holt-Lunstad, loneliness is a bigger risk factor than obesity. It is the equivalent of smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.

In other words, If you are not honoring the loneliness inside of you—it is quite literally killing you. . .

Here’s how to honor your loneliness when it is true within:

1. Be willing to name it
2. Be open to feel it
3. Hold the tension of it
4. Talk out loud about it with safe people

Your honored loneliness will result in you reaching out, having conversations, experiencing connection, and getting your wants and needs met. Your heart is worth the effort, and I strongly suggest that you take your heart seriously (especially if you are used to repressing your loneliness). You matter more than you may even realize. . .

Plumline exists to help people just like you recover their heart and grow healthy relationships. Many of life’s implosions (impaired loneliness included) occur because you have learned to dismiss your own heart. In Plumline’s “Growing Healthy Relationships,” you will join a group of folks who are also on a journey to recover their heart.

Our “Growing Healthy Relationships” groups are offered both virtually and in person (Franklin, TN). The program is a weekly experience consisting of 12 sessions that is designed to restore and nourish your heart. The core of our process is based on Dr. Chip Dodd’s 8 core feelings as seen in his book Voice of the Heart.

During our program, you will learn to identify the feelings true inside of you, and you will grow your capacity to honor them. Until you learn to do this for yourself, you will never honor others. A critical part of our process is helping you confront lies that have emerged from your wounding experiences and worked their way into your operating system. These lies are robbing you of real connection and deep meaning in life. You will finish the program with new emotional skill sets, relational tools, and fresh truth to replace your core lies. Essentially, you will gain everything you need to care for your own heart through which you can experience lasting connections with God, others, and yourself.

After doing the work, many people find that their heart system has been the most neglected part of their spiritual anatomy. After all, so many of us have been told that our feelings are the enemy of true spiritual work. But this is not true. How can you experience deep and connected relationships with God and others if you are disconnected to what is true inside of you?

If you’re aware of your need to reconnect your heart and experience healthy relationships with God, others, and yourself—take the next step by scheduling a call with me.

Here’s to getting yourself back. He or she is well worth the effort.

Jake