Denton County Living Well Magazine July/August 2016 | Page 24

Solitude

W

By Julia Alvira, MD, MBA

e live in a busy world with constant movement. There’s not a stop sign anywhere letting us know that it’s time to take a break.
Let’s be honest, even if there was, we tend to
get busy with other things, including electronics. We’re so glued to our electronic devices that there are
people who sleep with their cell phone under the pillow.
According to writer Thai Nguyen (2015), smartphone users
check their device every 6.5 minutes. How crazy is that?
There is a constant juggling of priorities. As much as we
enjoy the company of others, there are times when we have
to be by ourselves. Do we make the time? Sadly, we don’t.
The idea is not to cut people from our lives and get isolated
or stop enjoying time with them and practice loneliness.
I’m talking about really spending time with ourselve