Oh yes. I used to be tremendously socially awkward and insecure, and that led to a lot of loneliness. Then about 15 years ago I decided to make a concerted effort to try to understand points of view with which I vehemently disagree. So I, being an atheist, started hanging out with religious people. Today I run a meetup group dedicated to this. We have everything from atheists to young-earth creationists. We recently picked up a couple of Muslims, and next week we're getting our first Mormon. It has been tremendously rewarding because I can now get along with just about everyone (except Trump supporters -- still working on that one).

I'm not saying that you should necessarily follow this particular model, but getting out of your social comfort zone, while not easy, can pay big dividends over time.