Whats it really like living alon

I don't live alone but I know if I did I would still had my two cats. The house would never be empty and I would always have company.

After 9 years on my own I cannot imagine ever living with someone again.

Ah, * CHEELU* a blast from the past. Trip, trap trip, trap

No change from my post on Sun 09-Dec-12 23:48:40.

I was widowed aged 33 and our daughters were 5 and 7, I was very lonely when they went to bed. As they grew older I had company again and it was great, then they married and I was lonely again, grandchildren born and they come for sleep overs, now two of the three have moved away, one to work , one to university , so alone again. That's life . This time much easier though and I have my dogs

geeljay How I empathise with you

Strange reading this revived thread. I see I commented under my previous name just 10 months after I had been widowed. I still feel the same. I still feel lonely, still hate being alone, still only spend a max of 5 weeks here before taking off and still trying to find my feet and make a new life. I think it will be an ongoing operation. For the first time since being alone I have really needed help having knackered my knee. How I wish DH was here to help with all the things I can't manage. My daily walk, where I meet lot of people and chat, has had to stop as has swimming and housework takes forever. As for hopping up and down the stairs - forget it! Sign of times to come once I am really old and infirm

I think it must be different for each of us .My case, the companionship lost leaves the void, but come in to an empty house, not to share chores, garden, meals, the bedroom, opinions. Its like I am half a person. I cope quite happily being on my own,
ie reading, writing, work. But loneliness is tangible and cold.

There's a few dormant threads been revived today.
Can't answer the OP as I'm not in that situation.

Kick the partner out but keep the lurcher.

I'm serious

I've got a lurcher.....my second one and find they have the nicest natures ever! This website gives me a lot of pleasure and helps when I feel lonely.Got a partner but he,s mean and selfish!

Having spent the weekend with two very rumbustious grandsons, my answer to the OP is 'peaceful'.

I've lived contentedly alone for the past 24 years, and through a coupoe of periods before that: It's fine. Whisper it - it's OK to be selfish, and to live as YOU want to live and do what YOU want to do when you live on your Tod.

Of course, doing what you want to do can encompass charitable acts, perhaps voluntary work for others -- but when the front door is closed it's your life and your time...

And I remain on good terms with the surviving ladies of my past, by the way.

I think as it is a reality for many of us we do have to consider our feelings both about being on our own and how others on their own may wish to be considered. Sometimes it is lonelier to be "included" in another family's celebrations than to do your own thing at home, because it reinforces the realisation that you are alone, We are all different and when people "insist" that someone is not alone, e.g. at Christmas it is not really saying much for the other 364 days of the year is it? Let's be clear that alone is not the same thing as lonely - added to which, a person can be "lonely" in a loveless or abusive relationship or where illness such as dementia has changed things altogether.
PS to you and to all who are alone not by choice

Christmas Day to me is now just another day of the week. I have spent the last 2 on my own but not through choice. A friend of mine spent one Christmas Day painting her flat. She did not want to come to my house for lunch.

I have been on my own now since 1988 and on the whole I do not mind my own company but just occasionally it would be nice to have coffee brought to me in bed or a friendly face to greet me, apart from my cat's, at the door if I have been out.

I can no longer drive in the dusk or dark because of major eyesight problems so that does restrict me now as I could not afford a taxi every trip.

It is nice to be able to have a bunch of grapes and an apple for supper rather than worry about catering for somebody else as well.

living alone has its benefits as well as its drawerbacks, benefits being your free choice of what to do where to go what to eat etc, drawerback is not having someone to share things with, go on holiday with and share days out with but all in all is ok.

I've lived alone for many years and am usually happy and content. I find I do have to be quite proactive in organising things, and seem to do more than my fair share of entertaining, but that can also be the case if you are in a couple. I do have times when I can feel lonely - it's the little things I miss, like just chatting over a coffee first thing in the morning. I enjoy my independence and I probably quite like to have my own way! I must admit that when I see couples arguing in a supermarket over whether to have a tin of tomatoes or a box of washing powder, I feel relieved that I don't have to account to anyone else for the decisions I make. I don't have a lot of money but I like to spend it as I see fit.

I spent a number of years really alone after my family left home and before I remarried. It had its good side and it's down side. I quite like my own company and space and sometimes I miss my single days when being in a couple is one person too many! For it to be a really good option it helps to know there are people outside the door you can call on - feeling there is no one in the world for you to talk to is really the saddest, loneliest feeling in the world. And these days neighbours aren't as friendly as they used to be (busy lives etc) but a smile and a hello might be a good start.

How much angst you feel about being on your own, must depend on how you really feel about your life with the person who currently qualifies you as being in a partnership. Deep thoughts coming up here and I am not sure I want to go there right now.

Spent several years on my own prior to second marriage. Fairly happy with my own company but even after a good evening out with family or friends, going home to an empty house is not nice. Fortunately, had a dog who was always pleased to see me. Did sometimes spend Christmas Eve on my own - it's not that big a deal.

I lived alone in my earlier years and enjoyed the time but in later years if you can't get out and have health problems that would be different.

There is a difference between living alone, which many people enjoy and being lonely.
If you live alone but have family and friends and interests then I don't see a problem.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be alone at Christmas or New Year.

I much prefer living on my own. I'm not going to say that you never feel lonely but then I've also felt lonely when living in a house full of people.

Even after I was married I spent months on my own and both DH and me still spend a lot of time doing our own thing. DH was in the US for while and although my daughters were living at home then, they were so busy with their lives and actually I felt more alone with their (lack of ) company as when I was really on my own.
I am more afraid if being in the company of people who bore me than of being alone.

DD decided when quite young that she did wanted to stay single and live independently. The reason she gave was that she enjoys her own company and being of a forthright frame of mind she did not have the qualities necessary to make the compromises that living with someone else inevitably involves.

She has lived happily on her own for 15 years with never any desire to change. Since a bad road accident 2 years ago she has also chosen to work from home. She has lots of friends, lots of interests, and is always out and about. At home she enjoys spending time doing DIY, doing sewing and other crafts, and anything else that takes her interest.

I always think the world falls into two groups, those happy in their own company; my daughter, me, my father and those that aren't, DH, my mother, who when left alone feel very much in need of company.

Cheelu I live alone, not through choice, and have done so since Friday 2nd November 2012, definitely the worst day of my life. I absolutely hate it and have never had to live alone previous to that.
Like others I am happy with my own company (I appreciate that sounds contradictory) but only when I choose. Having a single life forced upon you is not to my liking, however, I suppose we have to come to terms with the situation we find ourselves in but if I was given the choice I would not live alone. My grandaughters are 200miles away from me as are all my family except my son now. I dread the evenings returning to an empty, quiet house with no one to talk to or share with and like your neighbour watching TV alone then retiring to an empty bed.
My house used to be filled with so much love and laughter that life is just a total anti climax now. I hope you find it in yourself to enquire if your neighbour would like some company occasionally as there must be a lot of lonely people out there and hopefully she is content but if not you can at least help put a smile back on her face.