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| | #1 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 46
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Is that a sad little title for this thread? Hello I am an 18 year old dude, and I currently live with my parents. I have a very leisurely part time work schedule, and tomorrow will be the beginning of my second semester of community college. So... Is it strange for someone my age, to have basically zero friends, and still be content? The only people who I really interact with are a couple faces at work, my sister, mother, and random strangers on gaming+political forums. I do have someone I consider a life long friend, someone who I knew growing up, but we really don't hang out much at all anymore. I think I disappoint him by being so distant. Would it be nice to have some friends, and a girl friend? Yes I think it probably would be. While recognizing this, I still don't really care to go out and meet people. I have a long history of being shy, but over the past year or so I've gained more confidence and happiness. People still call me shy, but I think they say that just because I don't have all that much to say. I don't seem to have much in common with the people around me and society in general. Whereareas other people my age are interested in working towards building upon some specific career path, and getting wasted on a daily basis, I have no interest in such things. You could say my existence right now is comprised of observing the world as a whole (political,environmental,spiritual, changes etc) and exploring myself (intrapersonal/spiritual endeavors, plain self improvement). So what am I? A "loner"? Is it normal to be a loner? Is this a phase, or some mental dysfunction of mine? Some of you might have read Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth". The following is an expert from his book, which is just a definition he provided that I want to focus on. Quote:
Sorry for the essay, not certain where I'm going with this.. Well I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my life of course. I've figured myself out, and what philosophies I want to live by, thats something to say at this age. But I still don't have the specifics, what I want to do for a living, will I get married, will I move, etc. Have you encountered any hermits like me? Any input you could give.. How does an apparent loner go about living a fulfilling life? Should I change my ways? Am I stabbing in the dark here by asking such difficult questions.. lol Last edited by A2K89; 01-15-2008 at 03:30 AM. | |
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| | #2 (permalink) |
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 2,437
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Well, I'm 22, and in basically the same boat. In fact, when I was 18, I would say I was in the identical boat. And I've always been this way, more or less. So you aren't the only one. My relationships with most people come and go. It's not that I'm anti-social or can't socialize, I just don't do the "hanging out" thing or enjoy it at all, so the new friends I make slowly disappear. The girls I get involved with are flashes in the pan because while I have a deep love for many women I've known, lifestyle choices (so far) haven't made long term relationships productive. I always feel connected to these women, and I don't mourn breakups. I meet new people all the time, and for awhile they contribute a lot to my life, and then they pass away. This doesn't sadden me. In truth, the closest friends I've had are internet friends who I've never met in person. It's a lot easier to find someone that fits into your lifestyle online. Some of my internet friends I've known for 7 years now, and talked to consistently about real life issues throughout those years, stuff that I rarely get to talk about in person just because most people I've met can't relate. For many years I felt a lot of shame because society considers this kind of life to be unacceptable, but over time I've got more and more comfortable with myself and learned that social norms are not a good metric for mental health. There's a new age take on this that, over the years, has seemed more and more true to me. The Indigo child phenomenon - people literally not born for this present earth but born for the coming earth. Born for the "new" earth of the "new" age that is right around the corner. Many "Indigos" find very little to identify with in the physical consensus reality, and by nature have their awareness pointed in another direction. Apparently, from a psychological perspective, the indigo archetype is truly unprecedented in human beings. We may very well be a new type of person for a new time. What purpose do I find on this Earth? Very little of it interests me... the small slice of experience that does interest me is entirely centered around personal development, with the intention of being of service to the personal development of humanity. I am motivated by essentially nothing besides this... no emotional drives or physical drives, no major cravings or aversions, no major anger or hatred and not all that much stuff which could be identified as past karma. There is certainly plenty of grist for the mill - fate ensures that. But nothing of the kind that I see others deal with. In a lot of ways, my physical existence is a flatline and the entire activity of my life has been in a different realm of existence. It's taken me years to realize that I was truly different - not just that other people are mysterious or hidden - but that I truly march to an odd drumbeat. Some say we've come here to balance ourselves primarily and secondarily to usher in the new earth. I have no proof of this but as my awareness matures, there is a knowing from within that tells me this is truth. Food for thought Oh, btw, I still haven't figured out how I'm going to "live" my life. Right now I'm moving towards being a kind of counselor so I can quietly work on myself while helping out people with their issues. It's not that I'm highly motivated to this particular job, just that I recognize I need to live somehow, and also I recognize that I am completely disinterested in every activity that doesn't either improve myself or improve others. So I'm aiming for a job where I can spend the majority of time helping out people with their important issues - which is to say, help out people in dealing with their karma. Help out people in their own spiritual development. Last edited by yossarian; 01-15-2008 at 05:04 AM. |
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| | #3 (permalink) | |
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: A cute little town in Sweden :)
Posts: 1,174
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Sorry I have no advice for you, being more than twice your age and having been like that, in that paragraph more or less, since before I can remember, I have not managed to live in this world and get closer to leaving it all the time and I still don't know how to live. I am an example of what not to do if you are like that. Of course, I never had any idea...or means...or anything...to fix myself or help myself. | |
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| | #4 (permalink) | |
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 2,437
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So I hope that we can be of similar comfort to this gent. | |
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| | #5 (permalink) | ||||
| Member Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 46
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Thanks for the feedback, we do seem to be in a similar same boat. Quote:
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And yes I agree, social norms definitely are not a good way of measuring health. I now whats not right for me (which includes many of todays social norms), but still don't have a full picture of what is right for me. Quote:
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Definitely recommend you give the book a spin. Last edited by A2K89; 01-15-2008 at 05:59 AM. | ||||
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| | #7 (permalink) | ||
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: A cute little town in Sweden :)
Posts: 1,174
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The longer I'm alone, the more I like to be with myself and the less I want friends, or you could also say the less I want to get close to anyone personally, because the cost for being close to most people is so great, and I am only free when I'm alone, and it would have to be a very unusual person who I could stay free with. I don't want to be alone, but the alternative feels worse. Theoretically, I ought to be able to be present with others in some degree, but I have no emotional and psychological foundation to keep myself from losing myself too much with or "in" them, their problems, their lives. Quote:
Last edited by Bliss Sage; 01-15-2008 at 06:48 PM. | ||
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| | #8 (permalink) |
| Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: USA
Posts: 335
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cool- I will have to read Tolle, that paragraph felt sort of maybe like describing me as well- though I don't know that I would put myself in some special category of people, I feel like I'm normal and other people just seem oddly overly attached to things/relationships. It's nice to read that other people here feel the same way: mostly empty, comfortably alone but feeling connected to the world, not unhappy, with a desire to help humanity but not to get enmeshed in relationships and commitments with them all. I do think you shouldn't entirely rule out relationships or worry about them overmuch- I've met a few great guys who are similarly empty and had great comfortable free-feeling relationships of various natures- it's just important to be who you are and not let potential partners hope/expect more than you naturally give, because it does suck to disappoint and have to walk away to avoid hurting them more.
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| | #9 (permalink) | |
| Family Member Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,090
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To me you seem like someone who knows how to be true to yourself. Not only do I think there is nothing wrong with that, I think it's the only way to go! Everyone is different. We needn't follow a prescribed way of doing anything. I say be who you are and let your life unfold according to the path you're on! | |
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| | #10 (permalink) | ||
| Member Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 46
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Thanks for all the input. Last edited by A2K89; 01-16-2008 at 06:12 AM. | ||
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| | #11 (permalink) |
| Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 94
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If you're happy with your life, then why bother changing it? Some people are naturally introverted, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you really thought you needed friends, you'd have a burning desire to go out and make some. I'm a little like this, although not quite to the same extent as you. Have you tried taking a personality test like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator? I found it very reassuring, perhaps it will put your mind at rest that it's ok for you to be happy the way you are..
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| | #12 (permalink) |
| Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 7
| I also have few friends. I think this is the main reason why: (Probably the same for a lot of us here) - 90% or more of people are less intelligent (This is true if you have an IQ of 130 or more) and getting along with people of dissimilar intelligence (even if it is only 5-10 IQ points) can be difficult. If you have an IQ of the average 100 there's going to be a lot more people in the suitable intelligence range to get along with than if you have an IQ around 130 or more. ![]() Interestingly both my best friend and I scored the same exact intelligence, and my parents who've been happily married for 27 years also scored the same exact intelligence. So I definitely think it's important to have a similar IQ to have a good relationship. If two friends don't have the same IQ the less intelligent one will feel intimidated all the time and the more intelligent one will be annoyed by the other's lack of intelligence all the time. On a random note I've always felt like I've gotten along with more people in Japan. I feel like there's just a larger number of intelligent people there, and sure enough looking at some statistics recently the average IQ there is 107, versus the United State's 98. Last edited by Zomer Briez; 01-18-2008 at 11:08 AM. |
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| | #13 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Durham, UK
Posts: 35
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| | #14 (permalink) | |
| Family Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 1,823
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Not every meaningful conversation has to be about quantum mechanics, you know. | |
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| | #15 (permalink) | |
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 2,437
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IQ is an expression of only the intellect and the intellect does not make the person. Most social interaction is an emotional interaction. However, many high-IQ people will make it an intellectual interaction because they've learned to rely on intelligence for everything. If you are talking logic-and-facts and someone else is talking intuition-and-feelings then you're not going to have any kind of communication at all really. I think the intellect is seriously over-emphasized in our culture. It's only one small part of the whole human experience. But in North America we are taught to treat it like it is ALL that we are - like there is NOTHING else! Even fields that are entirely non-intellectual become intellectualized, like pretty much every art form for instance. An intellectually directed approach to art is literally painting by numbers no matter how big your blockbuster budget may be. An intellectual approach to socializing is equally mis-guided. If you find that you can only speak about certain topics and speak about them in terms of logic and facts, then you are probably completely unaware of several major parts of your anatomy. Last edited by yossarian; 01-18-2008 at 01:04 PM. | |
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| | #16 (permalink) | |
| Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 7
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(Though lately my "cool" roomate who constatley insults me and belittles me, has been informing me about how everyone at school calls me a loser/wierdo. So I have been in a real hate mood lately) No, I don't think people are intimidated by me personally at all. Mostly people just think I'm a wierd loser (which I am). Maybe I just came to that "intimidation" conclusion because I personally am intimidated by people smarter than I. But now that I think about it though, I'm intimidated by everyone. I feel like such a looser ass piece of **** all the time it makes me intimidated by and dislike everyone. I feel like everyone is always looking down on me too and that also makes me dislike them. I still think thought that people of similar intelligence get along better than people who are not and I would be happier in life with an IQ of 100 (and perhaps not having clinical depression would help too). ... but still, I might just be weird and have no friends no matter what and all this negative **** I always say, it must be emotionally draining and not fun to be around. And I'm always filled with this self pitty that must be annoying also. Wow, this has made me realise how much I need to get back on anti-depressants, but... I'm afraid of them... Last edited by Zomer Briez; 01-18-2008 at 01:41 PM. | |
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| | #17 (permalink) |
| Family Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 1,823
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Zomer, Get some help. Seriously. We can assist you in unrooting some of your disempowering beliefs, but I think you need a little more than that. Don't get stuck where you are now, find help. |
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| | #18 (permalink) | |
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 2,437
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The bottom line is that despite the very real feeling that the entire world is just there to cause you misery... there ARE times when you feel joyous, when you laugh, when you even feel love. Think about those times for a second. We tend to notice the bad stuff and focus on it. We tend to constantly criticize ourselves and then by extension we criticize everyone else. We may think it's actually helping ourselves or helping others. But, in truth, this criticism is pointless. I bet there was a time in your life when you were happy for months on end without any depression in sight. What was different then? Last edited by yossarian; 01-18-2008 at 02:27 PM. | |
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| | #19 (permalink) | |
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: A cute little town in Sweden :)
Posts: 1,174
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If an IQ test measures your intellect, I wonder. My IQ score is too high to be a measure of intellect. Mind you, I'm sure the rest of my family each have a score that dwarfs mine, but still...(I'm the stupid one in the family, and I think possibly the only one born with a heart, which I prefer) Anyway, Yossarian, maybe there was never a time in his life when he was happy for such a long time. That's a very big presumption. There wasn't in mine and then too some of us forget virtually every single thing that has passed. If I want to know something about my childhood, I ask my mother Also, concerning people with similar IQ's, my brother and my father are exceedingly intelligent, too much for the good of people around them. I have also known a girl who was the same. From what I could see of them, at least the girl and my father are happy being with "stupid" people so they can control them and keep them where they want them. My brother has been happily married with a woman who I don't think has intelligence more than the average person. She loves him and somehow they think alike in how to live day in and day out (after 18 years of marriage). I, while not being very smart, get easily frustrated and angry with people I consider to be "stupid" or somehow mentally challenged (usually with someone in a romantic relationship), but not intellectually slow, more like not being able to hear me, emotionally stupid and/or indifferent. I end up feeling like they must have some sort of brain damage or detachment in their brain. I haven't quite figured the phenomenon out yet. I don't think intellect makes you smart, I think "intelligence" starts with common sense and not being in a fog. Last edited by Bliss Sage; 01-18-2008 at 03:00 PM. | |
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| | #20 (permalink) |
| Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 381
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*sigh* I'm beginning to realize that an IQ score says next to nothing about your success in life. Most of your success depends on your ability to interact with people, which in turn depends on your ability to be spontaneous and unafraid of making yourself look foolish. All my life I've been intellectualizing everything b/w heaven and earth, when what I really needed to do was SMILE. Took me a long time to figure that out.
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| | #22 (permalink) |
| Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Zealand
Posts: 172
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A2k89, when I read your postings I just felt you have a really good understanding of yourself, that you have a broad perspective on life for one so young and that you know you are different from the so called "norm" but that is okay too. My feeling is just to keep on breathing in all that life presents to you and keep on being yourself and live by what is correct for you, how you respond innately to life without being pulled into other's expectations, or society's conformity to the status quo. You are unique. There is no one else like you. Be yourself.
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| | #23 (permalink) |
| Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 1
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My name is Dylan, I live in Wales I also attend community college have just got a job in Tesco’s working part time. I had a best friend who I used to hang out with but don't any more. i have very few friends as well. What is different is that any friends that I did have gone to university recently and believe me that is very few. I do not get pissed and am in fact a t totaler, I just don’t like the idea of losing my inhibitions. At the moment have zero people outside of my family and work that i interact with on a regular basis. Apart from all this I do not feel unhappy I read i use the internet i place chess on the internet. The place that i live in is very beautiful, I look after two very happy coleys that are very happy to see me. I believe that how happy you are is decided by how strong you state of mind is and i choose to keep mine strong. I have in the past been depressed so i keep myself strong so as to not full down that deep dark hole again. I truly empathise with the place that you are in because i believe that we are in the same place. This is very strange, but what is the web for but to find our equal counter parts. |
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| | #24 (permalink) |
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Home
Posts: 2,578
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I have very few friends, but I do enjoy others' company in small doses. I prefer to be alone most of the time. In college, I had plenty of friends, although very few I truly had a deep connection with. I am a very funny guy, and people love me for that. But, I am also very serious at times, for instance on this forum I rarely crack jokes or say things that others would find humorous. I've been a loner for quite some time now and most of the time I'm content with it, but other times I feel like I'm missing out. I have thought about becoming a spiritual teacher, a guru, a motivational speaker, a demotivational speaker (as a fake, funny persona), and am a stand-up comedian. I've also been through some pretty trying times in my life (brain cancer), so just knowing how I beat that disease keeps me going. But I've always been someone who has few friends, and doesn't feel like he wants any more people to enter his life, unless they truly resonate with me. So, yes, there are hermits out there. While I'm not a complete hermit, I do love my alone time just as much as being with people, if not more. But after awhile, I get bored of myself and need some other input. So I go to someone to talk and I feel better. It's all about balancing time with others and time to yourself that you feel comfortable with. |
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| | #25 (permalink) |
| Banned Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 12,751
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Just thought I'd point out that this person posted this thread over 2 years ago! Also, it is VERY interesting to read Yossarian's input from 2 years ago, AND to see the budding comeraderie between him and Bliss Sage! What happened?? Toss is a totally different person today, and he and bliss Sage do not get along at all? I guess that's life p.s The mis-spelling of his name was a total accident...but I want to keep it the way it is as it made me laugh when I just noticed it now. Forgive me Yoss! Last edited by elucidate; 08-28-2010 at 05:02 AM. |
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| | #28 (permalink) | |
| Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: international wannabe gypsy
Posts: 231
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There's a lot to read right now, so I'll probably come back to this later, but this: Quote:
If this is true... no wonder I've always felt like such a weirdo! Maybe this is why I've never been interested in school, going to college, finding a job, etc etc... and have always been focused on my interests and improving myself... At times like this I wish I could look into the future and see if I'm living my youth efficiently, or just wasting it away.. | |
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| | #29 (permalink) | |
| Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 2,437
| Quote:
A lot of the stuff I said I still think is true but I don't go around repeating far out conjectures anymore. Not that I think it's bad to conjecture, just that it's not as useful for me personally. | |
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