I think it's safe to say that we've all been there: It's about 6 p.m. and you want to go to dinner, maybe at one of the dining halls or just to grab take-out from somewhere and you've asked everyone you can think of but everyone has already eaten or has other plans.

So, you decide not to go. You think, "Whatever, it's fine. I can just make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich," or maybe you think "It's okay, I just won't eat dinner tonight."

For a lot of us, we would rather go without eating than have to go do something alone for a little while. Isn't that weird?

I'm guilty of this myself. I can think of a lot of occasions where I've wanted to go to dinner or a club meeting or any other number of things and have decided not to simply because I couldn't find someone else to go with me. I've always thought of myself as an introvert, and then I realized that I actually don't like to be alone very often.

Sure, sitting in my room binge-watching Game of Thrones or something is one thing, but actually going out in public and having to go alone? Absolutely not.

I don't like to go to the dining halls alone.

I don't like to go to the library alone.

I don't like to walk down King Street alone.

I don't like to go shopping alone.

But why? Initially, I thought, "Well, that's just normal. No one wants to do stuff alone when their friends can be there. That's boring." But I don't actually think that's the reason. I think society has put a stigma on the idea of being alone and has made it seem like this awful thing that it's not. You hear it all the time in reference to relationships.

Does everyone remember when that whole "forever alone" thing was going around? First of all, no one is "forever alone." You have a million people that love you and care about you, regardless of if you're in a relationship or not.

But even if you were "forever alone," why is that such a bad thing?

I think the issue is, at least within myself, is that I don't always like who I am. I have unresolved issues within myself that stem from all sorts of things: insecurities, fears, etc.

Sometimes I feel like I'm tolerating myself instead of really accepting who I am. I make attempts to change myself, better myself, fix myself, yet I never feel fully content with who I am.

This could be because I'm a perfectionist, or it could be human nature and the way we as people want to always strive to be the best.

Regardless, I think we're afraid to be alone because we don't like who we have become.

I don't want to hang out with someone who has a bad attitude, or is always negative or just makes me feel bad all the time. Having insecurities and fears that you can't move past can cause you to be like that, though.

It comes to a point that you need to have a talk with yourself and ask yourself, "Why do I constantly need to have other people around me?"

It could be because they validate you in a way that you struggle to validate yourself. Maybe you're using them as a distraction for your insecurities because when you're around certain people, you forget about those feelings for a while.

While there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel validated occasionally or wanting to distract yourself from certain things, eventually it has to be acknowledged.

For me, I realized that I don't like to be alone because once I am alone, I start worrying that other people (groups of people, usually) are judging me because I'm by myself.

Thinking that now sounds crazy because I have never once passed someone who was walking down the street alone and thought, "Wow, they must suck and not have any friends because they are alone." I don't think anyone thinks that, so it is a crazy idea to think that that thought would cross someone's mind if they passed me walking down the street.

Being alone is sometimes really good for you. You have time to think, de-stress, maybe just get to know yourself better and figure out what kind of things you like when you're not dependent on someone else. Our insecurities hold us back in life more than we think they do.

So I'd like to leave you with a challenge here today: If you're feeling like you're scared to go eat somewhere by yourself, or go shopping by yourself, I challenge you to do it. Being alone can feel crippling, but it can also be an empowering feeling. Do it and don't let your mind encompass you with negative thoughts. Embrace that lonely feeling.