Joecan, as everyone suggests and you're already doing, getting out of the house is essential - for simple social interaction or deeper friendships. However, it's not enough to just put yourself in a public space with others; you need to be the first to initiate contact. It takes forced determination, but the rewards are gratifying.
I spent 3 months (alone as always) in the small, charming town of Mount Dora, FL last year. Every day I went for a walk around town and to the lake front, committed to greeting everyone I passed and stopping to converse with at least one person. I found both tourists and locals consistently responding favorably to my greetings, the dog walkers welcoming attention to them and their pets, and the fishermen always up for a chat. I had to be the assertive one to reach out, but a simple walk every day yielded wonderful social contact. That interaction didn't build any new friendships, but it gave me some daily gratifiction - and practice for being more outgoing in other situations.
Building friendships is harder than just getting a daily dose of social interaction, but it's most attainable via repeated contact. This could be seeing the same person at a gym, pool, rec center, library, park, or church every week. But once again, you usually need to be the assertive one. I've found that most people warm up after repeated friendly encounters, no matter how different or incompatible each may be. I've befriended people all over the world this way, eventually swapping emails or building friendships just because I sat down next to them many times and spoke first.
As a life long single, I've always found that it takes a concerted effort and commitment to meet people, build relationships, or maintain them. It gets tiring and frustrating over time, but giving up, staying home, and becoming a loner is not a good plan. We're here for a reason: to love God and to learn how to love people. Be bold with both and you'll be rewarded.
