"Fear and distrust come from too much focus on yourself...brings loneliness and difficulty communicating with other people...your interests and your future depend on other people. If you isolate yourself from them, how can you be a happy person?"
~ Dalai Lama
I imagine we can all agree that sometimes people choose to isolate themselves citing their dislike of others. In my line of work, I have heard this line more times than I can count: "I just can't stand people, they're all A-holes!". We all know there is much more to that storyline! However, there are those, including ourselves, who have experienced a time when life deals a hand that feels too overwhelming to bear. The pain can be so palpable that we feel as if every nerve ending on the surface of our skin is burning at once, sometimes for hours even days. Unable to process anything else, more as an act of preservation, we sink inside ourselves. There is a dark expanse of space, deep inside, that we perceive to be "better than" trying to interact with others. We think we're protecting ourselves by drawing away, isolating ourselves from the outside world. The reality is that regardless of the causes of our distress, the opposite is true; rather than creating relief, turning inward multiplies the intensity of suffering and amplifies the very feelings we seek to escape.
"With too much self-focus your vision becomes narrow, and with this, even a small problem appears out of proportion and unbearable." ~ Dalai Lama
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