In his 2023 report "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation", the US Surgeon General at the time, Dr. Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness and social isolation a public health epidemic.

Aside from feelings of ennui and lacking support structure, loneliness can trigger or increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and even premature death!

So, while he doesn’t quite come out and say it, and he might not have been thinking exactly along those terms when I spoke with him, Steve Fales might have had a brush with death.

Steve grew up in a single-parent home. Although he had a brother, his brother was 11 years older and serving in Vietnam while Steve and his mom were living in what he repeatedly describes as “a dead end street in a quiet town with lots of kids and dogs around and playing all the time and other stuff kids do”.

He started out working on the floor in a grocery store before he applied for a job in their advertising department – and got it. His experience eventually drove him to start his own advertising agency, where he carved out a niche in the air conditioning industry. Things were going fine… until his growing firm was selected as a provider of choice for a major manufacturing firm.

But Fine is a 4-Letter Word… and what some might call Steve’s ship coming in gave him panic attacks. For months he started his days by wretching and dry-heaving into the toilet. Outwardly, he was the envy of his peers and the idol of his friends… but he carried this dark secret.

Does this sound familiar, by the way?

Join Steve and me on a deep dive into the impacts of loneliness on our society. There’s a reason it’s an epidemic. With surveys showing one in 4 people reporting they eat alone every day, and everybody wandering down the sidewalk with their eyes on their phone… we’re surrounded by people yet frighteningly disconnected.

Not to reveal the takeaways before you even hear the episode, but the solution to your loneliness and disconnection comes not from being around other people, as much as it comes from within you.

Steve lays it all out for you.

Steve’s hype song is "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" by The Moody Blues.

Resources:

• Steve Fales’ website: https://www.stevefales.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenfales/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fales.18
• Claim your copy of Steve Fales’ book, “Loving Your Neighbor: A Practical Guide” (plus the group discussion and journal prompts), at https://www.stevefales.com/books/loving-your-neighbor/

Invitation from Lori:

This episode is sponsored by Zen Rabbit.

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