Being rather introspective tonight..

[DitchPanda]

 Not sure if its from several glasses of whiskey tonight or my age finally catching up to me. But I find myself reflecting on myself and how my life and priorities have changed over the past decade. 10 years ago I had 50 friends...was partying alot..and I'm ashamed to say was struggling to make ends meet bouncing between sh$%& apartments and my parents basement without as much as 2 dimes to rub together.

 Blink of an eye and I'm rolling up on 40. Finally got my head pulled out of my back hatch and things are much different. I own my house, lead plant technician and waters\utilities manager at my plant making a solid living. Have very few people I'd call friends now but the relationships are much deeper and more meaningful. Most importantly I have a woman thats been by my side thru all the drinking, parents basement BS..still with me now during the promotions and prosperity.

 All I can say is life is strange and it gets away from you. Most importantly life is good..the result is important but no more so than the journey. Its what makes us.

[LrgmouthShad]

think its good to have these moments once in a while. glad to hear you are in a better place now.

 

lots changing in my life right now, priorities keep changing. on the verge of getting out of college and once i do it is going to be a wild ride. i feel like i decide right now what kind of things i pursue after leaving. those that know a bit more about me on this forum may understand some of the decisions i face.

 

there, im introspective right along with ya. cheers

[DitchPanda]

1 minute ago, LrgmouthShad said:

think its good to have these moments once in a while. glad to hear you are in a better place now.

 

lots changing in my life right now, priorities keep changing. on the verge of getting out of college and once i do it is going to be a wild ride. i feel like i decide right now what kind of things i pursue after leaving. those that know a bit more about me on this forum may understand some of the decisions i face.

 

there, im introspective right along with ya. cheers

Right on brother..good luck to you in your decisions and future endeavors

[GreenPig]

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

 Not sure if its from several glasses of whiskey tonight or my age finally catching up to me. But I find myself reflecting on myself and how my life and priorities have changed over the past decade. 10 years ago I had 50 friends...was partying alot..and I'm ashamed to say was struggling to make ends meet bouncing between sh$%& apartments and my parents basement without as much as 2 dimes to rub together.

 Blink of an eye and I'm rolling up on 40. Finally got my head pulled out of my back hatch and things are much different. I own my house, lead plant technician and waters\utilities manager at my plant making a solid living. Have very few people I'd call friends now but the relationships are much deeper and more meaningful. Most importantly I have a woman thats been by my side thru all the drinking, parents basement BS..still with me now during the promotions and prosperity.

 All I can say is life is strange and it gets away from you. Most importantly life is good..the result is important but no more so than the journey. Its what makes us.

Excellent. A good woman has saved many of us. 

[Mike L]

8 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Excellent. A good woman has saved many of us. 

Ain’t it the truth..In more ways than one. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[12poundbass]

I’m in the same age range as you and I’ve been doing the same thing. I’ve been with my with going on 17 years now and we sometimes have the “remember when” conversations. We’ve been through a ton, you could just about name it and we’ve been through it. A lot of our problems were self induced and I’d say maturity (or lack there of) had a lot to do with it. We always made the best of the situations we were in. 
 

We hit a stride a few years ago and things have been firing on all cylinders and it’s been nice. We always like to look back at those times to keep us grounded and moving forward. 
 

If I had the chance to you couldn’t pay me to go back to that age range or times. I like where I’m at and I’m glad (most of the time) I’m getting older. 

[cyclops2]

Health is a # 1 problem for me, wife  & my age group.  Everything else is good  /  almost O K. My problem is severe random pains everywhere with any weather changes. Bad year in N J

 

I yelp sometimes. But other age problems are tolerable.  So grateful I can do anything physical.

 

Life is great.  

[TnRiver46]

38 minutes ago, cyclops2 said:

Health is a # 1 problem for me, wife  & my age group.  Everything else is good  /  almost O K. My problem is severe random pains everywhere with any weather changes. Bad year in N J

 

I yelp sometimes. But other age problems are tolerable.  So grateful I can do anything physical.

 

Life is great.  

You’ve had some great years! If I make 80, I’ll be more than pleased. Most of my family has died well before that number 

[cyclops2]

Few of us really control our lives as desired.  I was born with a bad heart. So I was always sluggish in anything physical or MENTAL. 5 years ago The defects were removed & stints put in with a Pacemaker & Defibrillator.

I am finishing up a HUGE honey do list for several people.

It is better to healthy & enough money.  Than rich & sickly for a life time.   I was 0 for 2.  for 80 years. 

 

I agree about soft rods not being good for lightweight  lures.  I have 1 flyrod that is stiff. I have a Mitchell 300 with 4# Ande mono on it, Excellent  for small 2" rubber fish in green color. I only cast with the wind . 

[Holetail]

I believe there are events in life that change your outlook and also present choices / options you may not have considered possible before. Mine was in 2008 when my grandfather who raised me ended up hospitalized after a surgery gone wrong. At the time I was single, living at the beach, and commercial fishing for a living. This left me with $ and too much free time to chase girls and party. I travelled home several times to see him and was there when he passed. Those hard few months reconnected me to my family back home. Came back to NC and my heart wasn’t there anymore and knew I needed a change. Enrolled back in school back home so I could live with my grandmother to help out and spend more time with family. Was wrapping up work and getting ready to move when a girl I went on one date with months before happened to text me. Ended up seeing her that night and every night for my last week there. She is now my wife and we have two great kids after spending our first two years 600 miles from each other. Graduated in 2010 and moved back to NC with my grandmother demanding I go marry that girl! Haha. 2010 was a rough time to be looking for work so I struggled and she supported us for the most part. Then, she’s pregnant and I’m losing my mind how we will make it on my $10 an hour gig at Home Depot (all I could find). The day after my son was born, I got a call for an interview with the company I still work for today. Now here we are almost 13 years later in a nice home, two great kids, and blessed beyond belief… Moral of the story is that when a door closes, maybe you need to go out the open window. The path to happiness may lie on the other side of it.