Ten surefire ways to beat loneliness, in order of preference:

1. Get a friend or girlfriend, any old female friend. Settle for someone who is less than perfect; a “filler.” If you’re on the rebound from a broken relationship, make sure the new partner doesn’t look or act like the old one.
   
2. Do some volunteer work for a nonprofit club, for example, adult literacy, beach cleanup, etc. There’s no quicker way to feel happy than to see and help people who are less fortunate than yourself. Plus, nonprofit clubs are a good way to meet happy people. Peers don’t volunteer for these activities unless they are motivated and upbeat.
3. Get involved in an exhausting project. That way you’ll be too busy to think about loneliness. Do something you like.
   
4. If you’re a Christian, join a bible study group, church group, or Christian singles group. These groups are normally filled with nice people, and they organize plenty of activities whereby you can get to know people.
5. If you’re not a Christian, join another club. Clubs have people who have the same interests as you do, and they also organize activities. Some examples might be language clubs, travel clubs, social dance clubs, rockclimbing, or hiking, or public speaking clubs. (These could also be classes).
6. Take a night class or a weekend class. You might learn something fun, work on an advanced university degree, and bump into new people at the same time.
7. Find an IRC chat line or VP chat line on the Internet and start chatting. People often meet new friends online and get together after hours.
8. Get on the Internet. Access www.internationalpenpals.com, www.cyberfriends.com, or www.excite.com/directory/people_and_chat/pen_pals and get an email pal. You can also join an online community, using a search engine to look up several.
   
9. Look in the backs of magazines or on the Internet for snail mail penpals.
10. Go traveling. It’s easy to meet fellow travelers, but this is mostly a short term solution. If you don’t have the budget for international travel, then get a dog, and walk it a lot. Not only do pets cheer you up, but you’ll meet all your neighbors, get plenty of exercise, be fairly safe from muggers, and you’ll have a best friend for life.