Best of 2009: Staying in (a little) more often

I returned to my oft-neglected journal to find my 2009 resolutions…or, as I prefer to write them, intentions.

And, as it turns out, despite my best intentions, I pretty much failed the entire list of 10. One of them made me laugh out loud — it turns out I, indeed, intended to schedule (the absurdity of this is not lost on me at all) one night a week all year where I would stay in for the evening and chill out.

As Gwen Bell says, there’s always next year, and so of all the intentions on my list, that one is definitely headed for a repeat. 2010 is, for any number of reasons, going to be a year of discipline for me, or, as a friend of mine likes to phrase it, a year of taking better care of myself on any number of levels.

I say yes a lot. And when it comes to a chance to see a live show, hang out with friends, or go dancing, I say yes more than anyone I know. The reality is, even if I stay home one night a week, I’ll still be out more than most people, so I need to look on that as an opportunity to sit with myself rather than wonder what’s going on outside my walls that I might be missing.

Oh my, do I ever hate thinking about things I might be missing.

But there are so many other intentions that get shuttled aside by my constantly saying yes. I don’t get up and work out as many mornings as I would otherwise. I don’t get nearly enough sleep. And, as was brought home to me just today, I don’t have a completed manuscript for the one book I’m working on, or a completed proposal for the other.

“When’s that book coming out?” asked my friend Gary, who had the day off and decided to call and see how I was doing.

“When I finish it,” I said.

“When you finish it?” replied Gary. “Every time I talk to you, you tell me this ‘when I finish it.’”

“This is the year,” I said. “If I am still saying this at the end of 2010, I will fly you to the Bay Area so you can personally kick my ass.”

To that end, in 2010, I plan to stay in a little more often, even if I have to put the nights in on the calendar and grit my teeth to hold myself to them. At the end of the year, I plan to be laughing out loud, but not because I didn’t succeed on this particular front.

(Editor’s Note: Inspired by my friends Fatemeh, Jen and Tea, I’m participating in Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 Challenge. These won’t all be about gardening and food, but, well, neither am I. I appreciate your patience as you indulge my participation, and I hope you’ll share your best experiences of the year in the comments, as well.)