Hey I was also in a very similar spot at one point in my life. I worked from home, no hope of finding someone to share my life with, no friends, just no hope. Then one day I sent a msg to a young lady I had a crush on for years. We chatted online for months before going on a date. At that point, I really put myself out there and landed a job through a family connection. I felt I needed to better myself, to make the prospect of being with me good, and feel worthy of it myself. How can I expect others to like me if I don't like myself? And I felt like I couldn't do that working from home and avoiding all the things that terrified me. I had to jump right into the cold lake as it were. New job had me talking on the radio, making phone calls etc. And I just went for it, no apologies, no excuses for my stutter. Went into it just dedicated to trying to be successful, no matter what. Tried to leave the shame behind and worked on accepting myself for who I was, a hard working guy who stutters. I had a goal and would try to push my limits of what I felt was safe, I went for it. I realized no one was going to do it for me, my life was mine. The place I worked was an automotive plant, no one laughed or mocked me. I let my work ethic and good attitude sometimes do the speaking for me. People loved me and became buddy buddy with everyone. I became more and more confident with myself, and the more that happened, by putting myself out there, the better and more comfortable I became. Is my stutter any better now 10 years later? No, some days it's worse, but I just don't care, or try not to care hahaha, still get down, but thats life. Now I have a house, married to my crush, 2 kids, dog and cats. Worked out because I pushed myself and learned to accept myself and liked that self regardless of my stutter. There's always jerks, but gotta rise above.