You are an introvert. You want to have friends but find it difficult to form friendships. Here are some recommended ways of forming friendships that do not need you to be very outgoing.
Your workplace is a very good place to start. You see coworkers everyday at work so although you are shy, it’s likely that you will have to talk to them. This helps you to slowly emerge from your shell. When you have started to make friends at work then you can begin to invite them to join in after work or day off activities. This can build great and lasting relationships.
Becoming a member of a local church is another excellent way of forming new friendships. The church is very often a close-knit community; so close that the feeling is more like that of a family rather than a friend. If you miss church without previously informing them that you would not be there that week, members will checkup on you to find out if things are well with you.
Technology has made it possible for you to form online friends. There are several online groups that you can join just to make friends. One such group is Meetup.com which has a variety of adult meet up groups, so you can join those that suit your interest. For example, there is a weight loss group for those who want to lose weight or a wine tasting group for those who enjoy wine tasting. If you are a lover of pets and have a pet you are able to meet people in your area who have interests similar to yours in pets. If you do crafts or knit, there are also groups with these interests.
While some groups require you to pay a small fee to join, others do not and in most cases the fees are less than $1 per month and well worth it. You may have friends who don’t share a particular interest that you have, so you may try meetup.com to see if there is a group with the same interest as yours and can meet people in your area who share that interest.
Children, especially newborns, will get strangers to stop and talk to you. This is not suggesting that you have a baby just to make friends or to use your kids to make friends. It’s just that friendships are sometimes formed just from others stopping to say how cute your child is.