What do you do when you feel lonely?

I do things with friends, or else mope.
Bible study and time spent in prayer get good results.

I hold my wife, or pet my dog, or stroke my cat, or call my children, or go to the store and buy a double-fudge icecream bar! : )

I have this same problem a lot. I chat with people on facebook when I can. Or I write and just try to distract myself.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Writing is good.
@ducky_dnl You might take up target shooting, too.

ICQ has something of a random-dialing feature. You could even call up some jellies.

I’ll second using facebook to combat lonely feelings. I play with my dogs or take them for a walk.. fresh air is good for just about everything. Sometimes I just mope. :)

I read a book. I can get lost in a book and forget my loneliness.

I’ve been reading Sherlock Holmes, but I can’t get into it at the moment..which is strange.

I leave my apartment. Even something like going to the store or the library can often distract me enough to stop feeling lonely. Also doing something silly can help. I sometimes sing at the top of my lungs and dance. Taking a shower can help too. Like @chyna, I also read. I have specific “therapy books” which help me get out of my head long enough to stop feeling lonely.

I come to the Fluther. :)

Actually, I don’t get lonely very often. I spend a lot of time by myself and enjoy the time I have alone. When I was a student, I was an overachiever and I was extremely involved in school activities—it was exhausting. I lived in a fishbowl (in a small town where everyone knew everyone.) There was a lot of pressure. I found that I got burnt out, so as an adult, I think of alone time as an incredible gift. I do miss my family and my friends (at times) but I don’t mind my own company. I know people who absolutely cannot stand to be alone, or sit quietly and just “be”. I enjoy it.

I also read. I can get lost in books.

I take a walk or get out of my house. I had a day recently where I felt so alone, so after I cried a bit (which helps and doesn’t help) I went out for a hike. After some time just being away, it helped. Now, for the long-term, though, I have a mantra: Do something for someone else. In the midst of doing something good for or serving others it helps to connect you with other people. Do something specific for a specific person, like go to the store specifically thinking of a friend, buy his/her favorite food, and bring it over to him/her. Usually this helps that relationship to grow, helping me feel less lonely in the future.

I get lonely a lot. I don’t really have many friends here, just one close one and my boyfriend. So if they’re both busy, and I’m having an off day at ALL, I get very sad and lonely and want my family and friends but it’s not possible. So usually I watch a few episodes of The Office, or knit, or go for a bike ride. You can’t be sad and crying if you’re biking through town! It would look silly!

There are a lot of places that you could visit where they would appreciate you stopping by. They would appreciate you and the time that you give, and you will walk away with a lot better feeling than when you arrived. Putting a smile on someones face who doesn’t expect it is always good therapy for the soul. An old age home, or children’ s ward of a hospital are the two that first come to mind. I have struck up conversations with people sitting at Tim Hortons alone and had 5 or 10 minutes of conversation that left me with a high for the day. It’s a Win Win situation!

I honestly don’t do anything at all.. It’s really depressing actually…. I try to talk to as many people as I can…
You have me feeling kinda lonely right now.
Also, sometimes I troll on yahoo answers. :(

oh my gosh I sound like a women stereotypical woman… no offense to any women.

I walk every time I can, but I don’t live in a very safe neighborhood. I sit outside when I’m depressed, but that doesn’t help me too much. I really like driving, but I don’t like wasting gas. If I could, I would drive aimlessly for as long as I needed. I’m trying to sort my life out at the moment, but in doing so.. I’m realizing what a lonely, miserable person I am. :|

I keep asking twists on questions about being bored and lonely on fluther….they sometimes get modded… other times I watch t.v. or listen to radio…or take a warm shower/bath in the dark and lie down with the shower on me

@ducky_dnl As one who also has the odd bout of self-loathing, my advice to you is to not dwell on your state. It’s tempting, certainly, but in the end you’re better off doing something about it.

@Nullo it’s very hard for me not to do. I tend to dwell on things. That’s what I’m good at. My life seems like a mess at the moment. :(

These feelings are normal. It’s part of the human condition. You should know, however that you are very much loved, whether you are feeling it at the moment or not.

As for advice? Exercise. It’s good for the physical and mental well being.

I call up some old friends and invite them out for coffee.. if nobody can go then I’ll stay home and watch some good old classic or foreign films. I would suggest if you don’t have anybody to hang out with just find something you like to do and just do it. Keep your mind busy so you don’t think about feeling lonely.

Perhaps you should consider doing some volunteer work… you can make new friends while you do something good for your community and this will help you feel better about yourself. It’s a win win situation :-)

Another vote for getting out the house. Walking (exercise and fresh air) help balance your brain chemicals and can make you feel so much better. I also find that brief encounters chatting with strangers helps ward of loneliness, so be open!

Play music I love, engage in my hobbies, or play on the computer. I don’t get lonely too much, because I’m happily married with young kids, but I still feel a bit blue and alone sometimes, strangely enough.

Pack my shit, move somewhere else, and make friends that care.

At the risk of sounding like a “positive Polly” or whatever, what has helped me was looking inward and identifying the things about myself that I liked. I had heard plenty of times the sentiment that you have to “live with yourself” everyday, and at some point I realized that I was looking for external validation and acceptance… all the time.

Eventually, I learned to love the person that I am, and I understood the value of treating “myself” the way I would want others to treat me. By accepting, understanding that I’m “not perfect”, forgiving my own mistakes and recognizing that each moment I have a choice of how I want to live, has helped immensely and is the foundation for coping with unpleasant emotions like loneliness.

So now, whenever I feel lonely, I realize that there is someone right here who appreciates who I am and knows exactly the kinds of things I enjoy. When I’m “stuck” inside, alone, with no one else, I focus inward, and reconnect with this wonderful person I live with every single day. It works like a charm.

And to think there was a time when I would have read this and thought “what a bunch of touchy-feely hogwash”...

@Spider I think that the term that you want is “Pollyanna.”

I feel lonely a lot as well. I usually just tell myself everyting is gonna be okay. Then take my pet rat out of his cage, grab a good book and start to read. Chocolate also helps to make a person feel better! =)