Suddenly feeling the loneliness - how to deal?
Hi! I’m 28F and have been an only child for all my life (duh) but never really felt like anything was missing. I grew up with a village of people rooting for me, a great set of friends, and a relationship that filled up most of my time. I was also great at being alone and it never bothered me. I would think about having a sibling just for fun, not really yearning for it.
At this point with my friends as everyone moves onto different stages of life (getting married, moving abroad, promotions, etc.) I’ve been starting to feel incredibly lonely. I have a hard time opening up to my friends about things since I’ve always seemed like I’ve had it together but it bothers me that as much as I show them I love and care for them because my friends are the closest things I have to siblings, I can’t help but think I’m not receiving the same care. All because they have boyfriends that they would rather spend time with, siblings that they can hang out with.
I’ve always been attentive to people’s feelings, always want them to feel included. I wish people would think the same for me. Don’t know if I’m being unreasonable. I’ve also being feeling this great fear of losing my parents and dealing with it alone, feeling like no one truly understands how it’s like to deal with the grief of losing parents as an only child. I love them, but I also sometimes think they like to support each other during arguments that aren’t a big deal but at the end of the day it’s hurtful to feel like no one has my back.
This feeling doesn’t last forever right?