MaggieTulliver - you will find someone to fit the bill I'm sure - you're still young and I have never believed that marriages (relationships) are made in heaven. As a counsellor I know that not to be true - but you have two choices and one may bring you a relationship sooner than the other. Getting out and about is obviously what you're doing now but as you know, becoming a member of a choir, joining a book club, or a board game group, or being a regular visitor to your local library or community centre will not necessarily expose you to someone who is looking for the same thing as you are - so that's a waiting game but has the advantage of allowing you to see a potential 'friend' in several situations before you make the decision to go for it. The other alternative which people have spoken of is to advertise yourself, either via online dating or a simple ad in the local newspaper. One thing about doing it this way is that you can be as straightforward as you want and can say you don't want friends with benefits or the mad axe man - you have the power to say no before you meet someone and to say no afterwards if you want. So it's a question of whether you trust yourself to make judgements that will be good for you in the long run, and not whether the people you meet will be genuine and want the same as you - you can say what you want. I've never used a dating site but I would in your position, and I have a relative who met his second wife that way (20 years ago). It's worth a try - why not do that as well as getting out more?