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”...