The benefits of being alone whether you are introvert or extrovert

There is a joke which does the rounds regularly on social media that goes a bit like this: I saw a guy at Starbucks today, no phone, no tablet, no laptop, just sitting there, drinking coffee. Like a psychopath.

It’s a joke with a not too subtle element of social commentary about it. It seems that the notion of simply enjoying your own company has become such an alien concept in today’s digitally saturated worlds that those who do decide to simply ‘drink coffee’ are now seen as somehow counter-culture.

And yet spending time alone has huge benefits for our overall well-being.

For a start, being alone means that you are not under pressure to conform to a group or compromise your choices. Being alone means connecting with yourself and also the world around you because you see everything on your own terms.

For people who are naturally introverted, being alone can relieve a lot of pressure as they don’t feel anxious about engaging with others. At the same time it can also be a great way of building confidence and self-esteem. You don’t have to rely on the approval of others and you will need to be confident in making decisions for yourself. This can also make you more resilient and lessen fear about decision-making.

If you have a more extroverted and impulsive personality, being alone may be a good way to curb those impulsive tendencies. Spending time alone teaches us to evaluate and weigh things up, meaning we are less likely to rush into things.

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Six uplifting facts to put a smile on your face

Watching the news on TV or our smartphones can sometimes be a very sobering experience and it can be very easy to feel down about what’s happening in the world these days.

However, it is important to find little nuggets of happiness where we can. To help you along, here are some little uplifting facts to put a smile on your face:

1. Penguins and puffins ‘propose’ to prospective mates by giving them a pebble as a gift. Once they find a mate, they stay with them for life. Cows are pretty loyal creatures too and have best friends. When they are apart from their friends, they have been known to get stressed.

2. A man in Salem, Oregon in the US goes around hiding $100 bills in toilet paper to surprise strangers. No-one knows who the mysterious philanthropist is.

3. Every year, the Netherlands sends 20,000 tulip bulbs to Canada as a way of thanking the country for their help and support during World War II.

4. There are vending machines in Turkey which give out food for stray dogs and cats when people put empty bottles into them.

5. Most countries in the world use Gross National Product (GDP) as a metric for measuring their prosperity, but in Bhutan, they also use Gross National Happiness as a key indicator of how they country and its people are doing.

6. Forgetful squirrels who can find where they put their acorns end up inadvertently planting thousands of new trees every year.

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