Difference between being alone and being lonely.

Alone is being able to feel comfortable away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, with nothing but your own thoughts and reflections. Alone is sitting in a crowded bus, plugged in to your favourite music, deciphering the meaning of the lyrics, while intentionally blocking out the sounds of other commuters. Alone is doing all this whilst feeling calm.

Lonely is listening to music in your room, deciphering the meaning of the lyrics, wishing you had someone else to decipher those very same lyrics with you. Lonely is the discovery of what those lyrics meant and wanting to share them with someone or anyone, but the echoes of the loud music across the room assures that no one is there to share that moment with you.

Alone is walking home from work, your footsteps being your only companion that assures your aloneness, while your senses keep you good company as you smile and appreciate the beauty of your city, despite how dirty it is. Alone is taking the opportunity to get to know your surroundings better (often overlooked due to the presence of other people) by soaking yourself into the atmosphere, instead of just co-existing with what is already there. 

Lonely is walking home alone from work, appreciating the sights and smells of the concrete jungle you live in, wanting to hold on a hand as your heart tries to contain its excitement, but just cannot. Lonely is wanting to turn to the person's hand you are holding and say, "Look at the sky, it's beautiful. Almost as beautiful as you," and realizing that that hand you are "holding" is a cup of coffee, and ultimately, you have no one to share your thoughts with.

Alone is having lunch alone, where you appreciate every bite and every chew, and every taste is savoured. It is where you are uninterrupted in savouring the food as there is no one to hold a conversation with. Alone is reading a book after eating, perched at a little quiet corner of the restaurant where you are happy to exist in an atmosphere where your closest friends are the soft murmurs of couples conversing around you.

Lonely is looking at lunch alone as a mundane routine where the closest friend you have is the waitress who knows what your usual is. Lonely is gobbling down your food quickly so you can get back to your social circle and have a decent conversation with an actual human being. Lonely is wishing for someone you could share your meal with when you are too full and lonely is looking at couples or friends from across the room and thinking, "damn I wish I was part of them." Lonely is leaving the table hoping no one else would see you because if they did, they'd surely think you were a loser.

Being alone does not necessarily mean you are lonely. The next time you are alone, think to yourself, do you want to be alone, or do you want to be lonely?