How do you pick up strangers?

And when you see someone you like, how do you have enough courage to overcome your emotions and do what’s essentially impossible? Because I keep struggling with this particular problem, where I have seen people who are there, albeit good looks and all that, but I haven’t got near freaking enough courage of my own to go up and talk to them. But I’m sure that there’s a special place for people like me. I told this to my psychologist but it’s still not clear to me. I honestly feel as though very few people actually really care about my problems, they are too infatuauted with their own lives! But hey, life’s not the only thing to think about in our lives, is it?