We all need human contact. I can understand the decision to make the best of the associates one has, even when they don't fully measure up to one's ideal of what good friends would be like. What they offer may not even really deserve to be called "friendship." Maybe they are more like acquaintances than true friends. I tend to set the bar pretty high for who I would give the title of friend to. Finding a true-blue, good friend can be like finding a potential partner to fall in love with. Finding either is a tremendous blessing. Sometimes such a blessing eludes us. So what do we do in the meantime?

I wouldn't recommend a steady diet of solitude. Instead, I would go ahead and develop what connections are available, as long as they're not leading you into activity that's illegal or immoral. At the same time, it's okay to make a private appraisal of how deep, or how shallow, these relationships are. I've had "associates" that I learned I could trust only so far, who weren't all that invested in my wellbeing. I'ld rather quietly admit that to myself, than vainly hope for a level of consideration and loyalty that these persons were never going to offer me. Just don't over-invest in them yourself.