First Scary Social Event Down, 51 More to Go!

Today at work, a bunch of us headed downtown to listen to a motivational speaker. I hate those type of things, although he was a perfectly good speaker.

But an awesome thing happened. We were at a facility that has volunteer ushers, and one of the ushers was someone I've been friends with for (I just counted) 25 years! We only see each other about once a year these days. As anti-hug as I can be, I gave her a huge hug without even thinking. Afterward, we went to lunch. No time for anticipatory anxiety!

The best part about it, though, was that seeing her and spending the time together just plain made me happy. I've had this idea that the scary social events would be grueling, but that as a result, eventually I'd be more sociable and happier. I'd forgotten that a year devoted to, among other things, catching up with old friends, could be fun all on its own.