One of the things I pride myself on often in this blog (and in real life) is my willingness to try new things, my Adventure Girl nature. I caught myself falling into old mindsets lately.
“Why not?” had been my motto for years when presented with opportunities to try new things. Lately, however, I had slipped back into a rut. Having no time at all had turned me into a wanna be homebody during those exceedingly rare moments away from work. I am still not used to having time off, and I’ve guarded those free moments just as fiercely even though I have a LOT more of them.
About a month ago I got a text from DH2U announcing a happy hour. It was a Friday night, and all I really wanted was to be at home.
“Would you mind if I passed?”
“Yes. I would be sad if you weren’t there.”
Wow, okay. That put things into perspective. My man wanted to be with me and be social. That made me happy. Like I was going to say no to that!
I also realized that my actions were speaking much louder than my “I’m willing to try new places” words. I put on my big girl pants and agreed to go, changed back into presentable clothes, and changed my mindset about the whole thing. It became an adventure.
Once I found parking, I made my way up to the meeting place. One of my friends from Torah study walked out with desserts for a dinner party she was going to. What a great serendipitous meeting. It was definitely another sign that I’d made the right choice in going out.
I’ve always enjoyed going to happy hours with this group. There is always interesting conversation, and they are always at new-to-me locations. I am so glad I went: DH2U got to see his good friends, and I wasn’t in my pajamas at 7 pm on a Friday night (not that there is anything wrong with that – just not every Friday night). I need to get a life … and get back into that Adventure Girl mindset. This was a good first step.
Does anyone else ever get into a homebody rut? or When was the last time you had a flash that it wasn’t all about you?
Grown Up, Now What? 
Guilty. Big time. And like you, I usually, not always but usually, find that if I do like you did, and just go, I have a good time and am glad I went. I swear I could hibernate inside all winter and be perfectly happy – ready to socialize again in the spring. I know it’s not “supposed” to be good for us – but I find I do just fine. I’m sure some of us need much less social interaction than others. Although I do enjoy one on one social time with a girlfriend or sister. It’s crowds that drain me. Glad you had a good time Tammy!
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I remember a decade ago when I had to remind myself to plan an evening at home once a week. Now it is reversed. I don’t know if that is a factor of age or the fact that I now have two loving kitties who love giving me attention when I stay home. I do need to remember how much I enjoy myself when I leave the comfort of purrs.
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I’m a bit of a homebody. Most of the reason why is that I just don’t have many reasons to go out. Unless there’s a purpose to it, I’d just rather stay home. Besides, I like reading a lot and I just tend to do that at home. Part of it is that I just don’t drink much. Much of going out seems to be having drinks and I just don’t like to do that anymore. But my wife and I did go out recently to the symphony – that was a great night.
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Back when I was going out all the time, I read maybe 2-3 books a year. That is now what I’m reading a month. Thanks for pointing out that great trade off many of us have made!
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