It's something my friends have all gotten used to. I'm at that time in my life when I will probably decline hanging out with you this weekend because I have 4 loads of laundry to get through. To me, it's a legitimate excuse.
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That's why on March 1st I set myself a 30 Day Challenge to combat this. To encourage me to spend less time alone I was tasked with recording a worthy act (or two) of socialising every day.
And it worked. I didn't feel alone. I'd have tea with my friends. We'd catch up regularly. I stopped isolating myself, and stopped feeling so isolated.
And I didn't feel overwhelmed. Before going into the 30 Day Challenge I was worried that I would want time to be alone. That I would regret having to commit to being social every single day. What if I was down? What if I just wanted to go to bed early and watch Netflix?
But none of that happened. Yes, of course there were days when I just wanted to crawl into bed and binge on Once Upon A Time. But I could always send out a quick 'How are you?' to a friend beforehand.
Maybe it was because I never felt alone, or socially isolated, but I didn't get down. I felt more safe and secure in myself and with the people around than I have in a long, long time.
And now, here I am on Day 30 of the challenge (yes, yes I know March has 31 days...) And I feel great.
But how should I continue this? How do I train myself not to retreat and hideaway? Especially when that comes so naturally to me?
As much I love keeping lists, I honestly get sick at the thought of having to track who I've spoken to/hung out with every single day to ensure I don't cut myself off from the world.
There must be some other way to change my behaviour...
Partly, the 30 Day Challenge has done this. It's shown me that I still have time to do everything else I could possibly want to or have to do AND have time for my friends and family.
Keeping it up from April 1st on? Well, that's the real challenge.
