Alone

I am as weak as anyone, but I tell myself I am strong and this will only make me stronger. "Kick butt and take names," I tell my mirror. "Show the world that you're determined it will never bring you down."  And most days that works; most days I am confident and fearless.
But that is just days. When shadows start growing outside, shadows grow in my mind, too. They make me realize that I am alone. I take aloneness in stride, though. I like having alone time; it is healthy. It is loneliness I cannot stand. The difference is that I am isolated and do not want to be. Being alone is mostly self-imposed isolation; loneliness is when that self-imposed isolation or some other isolation outside of my control goes too far and is not what I want. Loneliness is what happens when I want friends and have none, or when I want to talk to a specific person and they do not want to talk to me. Loneliness is usually due to factors partially outside of my control.
Being alone I can handle; that is when I "kick butt and take names." Loneliness is the chink in my armor, my weak spot, my Achilles' heel.