A Dozen Ways To Defeat Lonliness
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distant relatives and old college friends. I chat with<br />
Senior Net members and make friends across the<br />
country. I resumed freelance writing and have also<br />
been published online. The first thing I do when<br />
I log on at six a.m. is write e-mail prayers. Soon<br />
after, my older son pops up on an Instant Message<br />
from Florida,” Larson explains.<br />
5<br />
Help Someone Who Needs Support<br />
“The capacity to care is the thing that gives<br />
life its greatest significance,” wrote musician<br />
Pablo Casals. Those who volunteer their time live<br />
longer and happier lives. Acting on compassion<br />
and kindness brings fulfillment, joy and purpose,<br />
as well as validating our self-worth along with<br />
that of others. And, by responding to the needs<br />
of others, you will allow love into your own life.<br />
Consider the example of Ches Hudel who was 31<br />
when her husband and nine-year-old son died in<br />
an automobile accident four decades earlier. She<br />
was left to raise three daughters, the youngest<br />
was just over a year old. <strong>To</strong>day, in her 70s, she has<br />
looked back at her journey through grief. She says<br />
that reaching out to others was therapeutic and cut<br />
down her own loneliness.<br />
Mrs. Hudel began volunteering at a children’s<br />
medical center, working with kids who had cystic<br />
7