It’s 7 p.m. In an hour, a musician I’ve followed for years will take the stage in a venue not 5 miles from me. I am showered, groomed, and have a plan. Yet as I sit here, watching the minutes till I have to leave trickling down, I am trying to make peace with the fact that I don’t want to go. And that’s OK.

Why do we do this? Is it age? I know I’m not alone. You make plans, you look forward to things, and yet when it comes time to execute, you suddenly find yourself justifying a night on the couch watching “You’ve Got Mail” for the 99th time.

You tell yourself it doesn’t matter, that the $30 spent on the ticket still goes to support the artist. It’s only $30, right? Heck, I am saving money simply by staying put and not purchasing the two $8 beers I almost certainly would’ve ordered. The extra sleep will help with work tomorrow. Heck, I MIGHT EVEN BE SAVING LIVES since god knows what could happen on the roads after 10 p.m. The justifications are endless.

When people ask me the difference between being 25 and 45, I always tell them sleep. I’m mostly serious — ask anyone with small children how they feel about sleep — but there’s something about aging and mental preparedness that plays a part in how we tackle the chores of life. On the surface, going to a concert may seem like nothing. In reality, there’s only so much stimulation a 40-something brain can take.