What I’ve discovered is that most people in any given community are there for the same reasons I am, to feel a sense of belonging. They’re hoping to find genuine connections, to share knowledge and interests, and create lasting friendships.

In order to allow love to enter, our heart will have to be open to it. The wider it is open to receive, the greater the love will enter. The chance of heartbreak and disappointment will always be there… Our mind cannot separate us from love, it can only create fear.

As someone who grew up in Hong Kong during the 80’s and 90’s and has been living in Australia for nearly three decades, I often ponder questions regarding my identity: Who am I? Chinese, British overseas citizen, or Australian?

Once I accepted that I will sometimes have dark and negative thoughts, I felt relieved to just be. I understood they don’t define me.

Sometimes the very idea of permanence is what keeps us stuck in a loop of self-pity which perpetuates the feeling of loneliness.

The dictionary definition of loneliness simply states: Feeling sad or unhappy because one has no friends or company. However, anyone who has experienced more than a few days of loneliness can probably attest it’s never as simple and straightforward as that.

Trusting ourselves is a fundamental quality we must develop in order to trust others. We often see the world through our own lenses, therefore projecting our own self-doubts onto the people around us.

However, emotional meltdowns and life events do not stick to a planned schedule, and feeling depressed during this season can be lonely and frustrating because the environment seems too cheerful for anyone to understand.

If you are tired of superficial relationships that bear little fulfillment and want deeper connections you can build on, then your only option is to be brave, open up about your inner world, and let other people in.

Positive thinking is motivation from a place of authenticity that supports your flow, lifts up your energy, and propels you forward.

Life events are arbitrary and most of us don’t get to practice each scenario over and over again until we get it right. We are often put in a position to respond to whatever is thrown at us unexpectedly.