Loneliness is just a state of mind

Question: How do you cope being away from family?

I recently just caught up with a Mate from 4 years ago where the topic of one conversation was based on loneliness. Do seafarers get lonely? How do you keep yourself sane without becoming depressed? What helps to pass time on ship? And can you cope with being away from loved ones? So many questions and many answers would normally be given. In my case recently over the last 3 months I am able to answer these questions without thinking to myself, where am I going in life? Why am I working at sea and taking myself away from the people who I love, it just doesn’t make sense. When you have a passion about something and work hard to get there nothing else around you really matters. The whole world could sink beneath the ocean and it wouldn’t be noticed by those who have a passion for their work.
Loneliness is just a state of mind that comes when you have no hope. Hope gives you something to look forward to and focus on. It is very easy to become lonely on a ship when you start to stick to yourself and avoid any social interaction. There are three keys to avoiding loneliness on a ship. 1.) Be sure of yourself. You have to like who you are as a person before you take a job on a deep sea ship. Because there will come a time when you are the only one you have a conversation with, if you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see then you have lost your first best friend. 2.) Have hope. You need something to look forward to which give you the desire and motivation to achieve greater things. And last of all 3.) Smile and be happy. All of these sound simple but in some cases it is easier said than done.