How do you respond to being alone?

I think it depends on whether its a choice or a feels thrust upon me--either way I think solitude brings me to moments where I can be still and silent and just listen.  I think sometimes I spend so much time feeling and listening and responding to the world around me and trying to be in the spirit of the moment that when I am still, i feel like the world's rug has been pulled out from under me and now I have to think about what I've done, what I've left to do, etc.  But really, no rug has been pulled, I think the rug actually gets thicker and happier and I do not HAVE to do anything but be with and love myself.  Maybe that's why it sometimes feels thrust upon me, I'm still learning to really love being with myself, perhaps that's a lifelong task, but being alone is one of the few ways I can say STOP to everything but me and just accept where I am now, not where I want to be or where I hope to be, but where I am right now.  And it gives me time to wink at myself and say "you're fabulous just as you are."  Which is always nice to hear.