Lonely or just bored?

I'm never one to complain being by myself.  I find solitude....easy.  Dealing with the ups and downs of life is a job in and of itself and I find when I am around people I can lend myself more to listen fully to them because I've had enough of sorting my own baggage out.  Yet today I felt a need, a yearning to be around people.  I mean technically I was around people as I wandered around town but no one I actually knew I guess is the clarification.  I was getting more and more upset with thoughts running through my head about how alone I was and some how that meant worthless in my brain.  Its funny how quickly we 1. jump to old patterns of thinking and 2. let ourselves get carried away with one small emotion or thought generalizing suddenly to our whole life instead of an isolated moment.

Anyways, I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to sit down and meditate and ask myself, "hey, whats up?"  And that is exactly what I did and I actually learned a lot.  The self conversation went something like this:

Me: Why are you so upset?
Brain: Because I'm lonely.
Me: Why do you feel lonely?
Brain: Because all I did was hang out with myself today.
Me: But you hang out with yourself every day, why is today any different?
Brain: I don't know, I guess because I'm wandering around town by myself I thought that meant I should be with someone doing that.
Me: Well isn't that just a misconception brain?  Isn't that just society telling you that you need to be around people all the time instead of enjoying your own company?
Brain: Touche self. Touche.

The funny thing is...I felt so much better after that!  Its comforting to bring to awareness what is our own belief and what are the beliefs that have been thrust upon us by our surroundings.  I have never felt alone spending an afternoon by myself to re-charge for work, play, and other various things.  Who knows why today I felt differently, but I regressed into old patterns of thinking and that can never be helpful.  Question everything.  Question your thoughts, your emotions, your beliefs; truly ask yourself is this me who believes this or was this pattern/habit created because I thought this was how things were "supposed" to be/go.  You'll be surprised by what you learn about yourself, but it will bring you even closer to authenticity.