Life - your thoughts please

First topic message reminder :

Honestly speaking, how has it been for you. Good? Bad? Lame? Rock n Roll?

Have you acheived all you dreamed of?

If not where do you go from here?

Do you think about death?

Do you care about the world and everyone in it?

I,m 34, losing my hair and girls don't look at me anymore.

Is it over?

westisbest wrote:
 
So am looking forward to the life change.

Good luck, pal.

The hell? Is everyone here expecting? Congratulations to you all.

kingraf wrote:The hell? Is everyone here expecting? Congratulations to you all.

Can assure you Raf that neither me or TSMR are or will be doing any time soon.

Ryan Rhodes could yet see to those plans changing, Rowley.

Honestly speaking, how has it been for you. Good? Bad? Lame? Rock n Roll?

All of the above. Awesome highs and heart breaking lows but without the latter you cannot truly appreciate the former.

Have you acheived all you dreamed of?

Yes and no. If at 17 I'd have been offered what I have now I'd have bitten my hand off. However when you achieve one goal or dream then you want more, that is human nature.

If I had my life over I'd have done some things different but I have no regrets, mostly you get what you deserve.  

If not where do you go from here?

Forward. Set new goals or work harder to achieve the existing ones.

Do you think about death?

Yes, I am terrified of old age and afraid of dying. But today I am young and alive.

Do you care about the world and everyone in it?

Hmm not as much as I did, age and experience makes you more selfish and cynical. I think I appreciate my true friends and family more though.

I,m 34, losing my hair and girls don't look at me anymore.

Is it over?

Only if you want it to be - as they say on the Fat Face adds:

"it's never to late to be who you dreamed of being" ...buy a hat maybe.

Since my daughter was born this year I feel for the first time in a couple of years maybe that the future will be more exciting than the past. I still have my own dreams and goals but these are secondary now to helping give her the opportunity to achieve hers.

Since my daughter was born this year I feel for the first time in a couple of years maybe that the future will be more exciting than the past. I still have my own dreams and goals but these are secondary now to helping give her the opportunity to achieve hers. .

Agree completely Rodders

Honestly speaking, how has it been for you. Good? Bad? Lame? Rock n Roll?

Pretty good so far. I am 27 and I have my health. I have most of my family alive and well and have a good relationship with my parents. Lucky enough to have a decent group of friends, not many, but you don’t need loads, I feel if you have at least 3 good dependable mates who you can share things with and confide in with confidence then that is enough. I work for one of the largest companies in the world as an Auditor/Quality Analyst, its not a role I want to do forever but it pays okay and has a career path if want to take it. I have been to Australia and in the last 18 months been to Germany, Poland and Ireland as well and I have seen pretty much all my favorite bands play live over the last 5 years across the country. Also just met a great girl who I have been dating for the last 2 months, she is Polish and seems really keen to make a life for herself over here and I am trying to show her that with me she can have this nice life, I am ambitious and want a family and am saving for a mortgage, the aim to have at least £40K-£45K by my 30th Birthday and feel I have a good life ahead of me.


Have you achieved all you dreamed of? If not where do you go from here?

Not at all. I am 27 and my best years are all ahead of me. The mortgage and the house, marriage and children and seeing more of the world, and this will all hopefully happen within the next 10 years.


Do you think about death?

Yes I do. It worries and intrigues me. I think deep down I know there is nothing but who knows for sure. The girl I am seeing is Catholic and she is adamant there is an afterlife due to her own personal experiences. I can’t say she is wrong for that experience so who knows as I say.

Do you care about the world and everyone in it?

Yes, nearly everyone. I have a conscience and morals and I don’t like to see people suffer. Went to Auschwitz and Birkenau in May and was the most humbling and haunting experience in my life.

I’m 34, losing my hair and girls don't look at me anymore.

Is it over?

No way. More to life than looks, plus in your mid 30’s your confidence, career prospects and personality is worth more than your hair cut. Not only that a buzz cut looks pretty good if you have the right face and build for it. But as I say more to life than looks.

I often wonder how people of a certain age still enjoy sex...

Right now my bird is pretty hot, but when she is 65 she won't be. I don't find any 65 year olds attractive.

Do you just stop when you get to a certain age.

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

I don't find any 65 year olds attractive.

I do!

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

I don't find any 65 year olds attractive.

I do!

Thought you might Tino...

Tell you what, we can do a swap in a few year. My mrs, slightly shop worn but still eager to please (hopefully), for one of your daughters? She can have the good life here in Newcastle.

I love in Halle Berry! Shes like 46-ish.
Im sure she will stay hot till shes 100

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

I don't find any 65 year olds attractive.

I do!

Thought you might Tino...

Tell you what, we can do a swap in a few year. My mrs, slightly shop worn but still eager to please (hopefully), for one of your daughters? She can have the good life here in Newcastle.

 

Listen Jack, I'm almost certain you could duff me up in a fight but you come near my daughters and we are gonna have to find out!

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

I don't find any 65 year olds attractive.

I do!

Thought you might Tino...

Tell you what, we can do a swap in a few year. My mrs, slightly shop worn but still eager to please (hopefully), for one of your daughters? She can have the good life here in Newcastle.

 
 
I'll have one as well if there are any going spare (and they turn don't turn out to be fat).  Can swap you an Aston Villa shirt (number's a bit torn)  & Phantom Menace on DVD.

Galted wrote:

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

I don't find any 65 year olds attractive.

I do!

Thought you might Tino...

Tell you what, we can do a swap in a few year. My mrs, slightly shop worn but still eager to please (hopefully), for one of your daughters? She can have the good life here in Newcastle.

 
 
I'll have one as well if there are any going spare (and they turn don't turn out to be fat).  Can swap you an Aston Villa shirt (number's a bit torn)  & Phantom Menace on DVD.

Is there a name on the back of the Villa shirt?

Think it's Grayson, will have to dig it out. It's a long-sleever.

Galted wrote:Think it's Grayson, will have to dig it out.  It's a long-sleever.

If its Paul McGrath then its a deal.

It's not a McGrath. If it was your daughter would have to be Audrey Hepburn for me to part with it.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Lumbering_Jack wrote:

I don't find any 65 year olds attractive.

I do!

Thought you might Tino...

Tell you what, we can do a swap in a few year. My mrs, slightly shop worn but still eager to please (hopefully), for one of your daughters? She can have the good life here in Newcastle.

 

Listen Jack, I'm almost certain you could duff me up in a fight but you come near my daughters and we are gonna have to find out!

I'm a good guy really Tino!! Not like I am on here.

This thread put in sharp focus how young I am...
A few days ago I was jumping for joy due to the fact that I finally got a moustache going (not even the full ones, the sort Pacquiao grew in his youth) after three weeks without shaving (Ive since shaved it off - the lady rejected my ambition)... Aahh, a problem free existence.


I would love to travel, being a fairly gifted athlete in a fairly affluent school, Ive seen a few cool places on tour - Toronto (basketball), Yorkshire (cricket), Dubai (cricket)... Currently Reading the book "Almost Sleeping My Way to Timbuktu", while not Pulitzer Prize material - Its a great piece on the magic and hassles of travelling in Africa

Honestly speaking, how has it been for you. Good? Bad? Lame? Rock n Roll?

It has had it's ups and downs. I have had more good times than bad for sure. I treat each day as it comes.

Have you acheived all you dreamed of?

Not yet. I have achieved certain things such as finishing top scorer of my football team one season as defensive midfielder which was fun picking up a personal trophy. I am one unit away from obtaining my purchasing qualification and also I am 5 years away from being mortgage free and I won't even be in my forties I recently changed jobs and the travelling is getting me down some. Other than that I have a 2nd interview for a job with a company who work in aerospace which again is exciting for me. I fell into my career by luck after my dead end job I had been in for 8 years had come under threat and it was the kick up the ass my life needed in all honesty. I haven't looked back since.

If not where do you go from here?

Just continue the same path. I am hoping to have a family in the future and that for me is the dream.

Do you think about death?

I have in both contexts. Asked why it happens and why do all the people I love die and also I have wanted to embrace it at my lower points in life. All I know is that it is for certain.

Do you care about the world and everyone in it?

As my wise grandad once said "Doesn't care was meant to care" I care for the world because I want to leave it in a better place for my future kids and my nephews.

I,m 34, losing my hair and girls don't look at me anymore.

Is it over?.

Nah. I have seen bald women! Hang in there.

Was about to start a thread on the odious article in the Mail about Ed Miliband's father but got side tracked into reading recent postings on this site.  Much more interesting - V2 at its best.

This is one of the best threads I've ever discovered on 606 and it's a snapshot into the lives of pseudonyms who realistically we know very little about. I can honestly say I've enjoyed getting to know each and everyone I've read so far. I will post my own soon.

It cretainly makes a difference from reading people argue about very minor things, in the grand scheme of things.

Unfortunately west it seems that no matter where you look these days on forums you more often than not find people stabbing at one another over something pointless. I'm all for a difference of opinion or maybe I'm just agreeing with you so this doesn't evolve into an aruguement

On the whole I'd say I'd been pretty lucky in life. Born in the UK in the latter half of the 20th Century, to loving parents and of reasonable intelligence, with very few major disasters, injuries or illnesses to either myself or close family members.
It's hard to complain about the standard of living and physical comfort throughout my life - there are billions of others worse off.

I don't hate my job, but I don't think I'd follow the same path again. I wanted to be a writer, but frankly don't have the talent or the discipline. What I should have done is something more useful to society and individual people than my current job, which basically just helps my company earn revenue and customers to have decent IT systems.

Once you have kids though, the idea of re-starting/re-training etc goes out of the window, because you end up wanting them to have all the comforts you had and more, which requires the current income. But I certainly hope they end up in a more worthwhile (imo) profession that myself and don't put too much importance on the material things (even though by providing them I probably push them in the wrong direction, despite my talking to them about their relative lack of importance).

I'm a worrier, which is undoubtedly made worse by having kids - for several years after they were born, I did worry a great deal about death - mine, theirs, my wife's. Pointless really. I read a quote the other day - if you imagine a worst-case scenario and then it happens, you've made yourself live it twice.

I care about the world, but am aware of the futility of trying to make any real difference to it. You just do your little bit and hope everyone else's little bits add up to something. I don't have a great deal of faith in human beings as a species though.

At 48, I figure/hope I'm about half-way through my adult life - plenty of time yet - not sure what for though

Has anyone found this process cathartic? It makes for incredible reading, like a 'Soul Window'. Appreciate the honesty and feeling shown by everyone thus far.

Just don;t know how you guys do it.

I look at guys who have a great job, wife 2 kids, own house, car in the garage and think its got to be some form of magic they are dealing with.

When I was younger living in London just out of my teens I turned my head away from the thought of all that and sought out adventure. That came in the form of first my black ops career and then my single maned missions in various parts of the world ahh Cambodia now that was some mean bush. Anyway at my age I just want the things that seem to make you guys so happy on here. A loving wife/girlfriend and the prospect of raising a family, maybe its too late for me now.

ONETWO did you play Call of Duty - Black Ops professionally?

SharkSoul wrote:ONETWO did you play Call of Duty - Black Ops professionally?

I wont get into any details Sharky just reached an age where the adventure has stopped.

I have realized that at my age of 34 there is really no place for me in society. Everything is geared towards young people they have clogged up the market. I used to be the young hip person who thought that it was all about me, but now I wake up one morning, look in the mirror and this oldish looking geezer with disapearing hairline looking back at me saying ''what now genius?''. If I could go back there is a lot of things I would change. When you grow older you notice people you used to look up to in your family pass away and now I wish I spent more time with them instead of doing what kids/teens do. I also look at old age pensioners a lot more now (not in a dodgy way) but just because I feel like I am finally catching them up.

I need a fresh start in life. No wife or kids, I think I need a new start in life.

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:A loving wife/girlfriend and the prospect of raising a family, maybe its too late for me now.

If you were 44 maybe it'd be too late, but not at 34. You just need to take some positive action towards it.

ONETWO - sounds like youve lived a full life without fulfillment, a hit like that Temptations song Never Been to Me

SharkSoul wrote:ONETWO did you play Call of Duty - Black Ops professionally?

If he answers that truthfully he will have to kill you. However to be serious for a minute onetwo, because despite how it appears on here I do like you really you need to stop looking at what others have because the grass is not always greener on the other side. As someone who has a few years on you 34 is by no means ancient. I worked in a job I hated for over 10 years, when I stopped smoking things that cause lethargy I realised how much I hated it and got off my arse and went to Uni. On the back of doing this I managed to find myself a job I enjoy far more.

By the standards of many I am still by far from wealthy but have enough to go on holiday most years and can do things I enjoy such as go to a fight when the mood takes me, buy books or films when I want within reason and me and TSMR pay the bills without too many dramas so guess we do not need to be any better off than that. Guess what I am trying to say is what others have said with far more eloquence than I am managing is find something you want to do and go for it. In relative terms you are still a spring chicken.

kingraf wrote:ONETWO - sounds like youve lived a full life without fulfillment, a hit like that Temptations song Never Been to Me

Maybe I am being a little selfish raf. Sometimes life can get me stressed but I am one of those people who do think about the plight of those lesser off and there are some people in this world who are going through sh*t so I don't want to be a complainer I find that very selfish. You should be thankful for what you got in life like health, a roof, a job etc but there is ALWAYS something missing.

I wonder if anyone can ever be content with there lot? I think its an impossible task in western society but I am glad people on here who have shared have found some good in this bloody world, I'm all for the little guy.

kingraf wrote:ONETWO - sounds like youve lived a full life without fulfillment, a hit like that Temptations song Never Been to Me

Charlene had the famous version - recorded before the Temptations I think. Apparently Randy Crawford recorded it first. It's the Charlene version we all know and love though.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:A loving wife/girlfriend and the prospect of raising a family, maybe its too late for me now.

If you were 44 maybe it'd be too late, but not at 34. You just need to take some positive action towards it.

I'm in unison with Julius on this.  It's never to late to make a change, instead of looking back thinking 'if I could go back', well you can't so put the time, effort and energy into making tangible changes in your life instead of impossible ones.  Good Luck on that journey.

Rowley wrote:

SharkSoul wrote:ONETWO did you play Call of Duty - Black Ops professionally?

If he answers that truthfully he will have to kill you. However to be serious for a minute onetwo, because despite how it appears on here I do like you really you need to stop looking at what others have because the grass is not always greener on the other side. As someone who has a few years on you 34 is by no means ancient. I worked in a job I hated for over 10 years, when I stopped smoking things that cause lethargy I realised how much I hated it and got off my arse and went to Uni. On the back of doing this I managed to find myself a job I enjoy far more.

By the standards of many I am still by far from wealthy but have enough to go on holiday most years and can do things I enjoy such as go to a fight when the mood takes me, buy books or films when I want within reason and me and TSMR pay the bills without too many dramas so guess we do not need to be any better off than that. Guess what I am trying to say is what others have said with far more eloquence than I am managing is find something you want to do and go for it. In relative terms you are still a spring chicken.

Yeah I understand your point jeff cheers

To be honest tho when I wrote this thread I was just venting I do value my health and the few friends that I have but I guess I have seen 1 chapter of my life end and a new 1 begins and it starts with me on my jack jones so to speak so who knows how things will transpire.

Good to read some of the comments on here tho.

Quite right Julius.. Charlene recorded it a few years before the Temptations, I juet thought the Temptations version was more suited to the thread.

The Charlene version speaks of being undressed by kings.... dont think that happened to ONETWO.

I prefer Charlenes version to Randy Crawford's as Crawford comes across a little too powerful on a very sensitive song

I wonder what dear old Windy would have made of all this.

I feel confident he'd be telling these glass-half-empty types to get a grip and cherish the life you have.

DAVE667 wrote:I wonder what dear old Windy would have made of all this.

I feel confident he'd be telling these glass-half-empty types to get a grip and cherish the life you have.

it was easy for him to say, if you have 500 years in which to learn and improve no one can turn him down for experience the rest of us mortals have much less of a prime.

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:

SharkSoul wrote:ONETWO did you play Call of Duty - Black Ops professionally?

I wont get into any details Sharky just reached an age where the adventure has stopped.

I have realized that at my age of 34 there is really no place for me in society. Everything is geared towards young people they have clogged up the market. I used to be the young hip person who thought that it was all about me, but now I wake up one morning, look in the mirror and this oldish looking geezer with disapearing hairline looking back at me saying ''what now genius?''. If I could go back there is a lot of things I would change. When you grow older you notice people you used to look up to in your family pass away and now I wish I spent more time with them instead of doing what kids/teens do. I also look at old age pensioners a lot more now (not in a dodgy way) but just because I feel like I am finally catching them up.

I need a fresh start in life. No wife or kids, I think I need a new start in life.

Mate I don't think so - at 34 life has certainly not passed you by - you don't have time to waste, but you do have time, all that you need.

If there are things you want to do, go out there and do them. Don't leave it until it is really too late.

Honestly speaking, how has it been for you. Good? Bad? Lame? Rock n Roll?

I'm from the bottom and I've managed to work my way up.  I've had the pleasure of all the above at different stages in my life.  I'm carved out of all life experience be it positive or negative.  I turned 30 last year and I've never been happier in life, I finally woke up to the beauty of the world and everything within it.  I'm in a transitional phase right now. I'm coming to the end of a 12 year career and making huge changes, plans to get married next year, leaving the RAF and re-locating to South Africa with the wife to be (She's a Saffa).    

Have you acheived all you dreamed of?

I'm an avid poker player and I was fortunate enough to play in the World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas a few years back. That was one of my dreams which I managed to achieve but to be honest I hope I never do because if that day ever comes it means I've ceased dreaming. I love to write. Predominantly poetry. I've got a creative edge inside of me and I just need to find an avenue for it. That is something I wish to explore.

If not where do you go from here?

I go where I have yet to venture.  The world is a big place and starting next year hopefully it gets smaller and smaller with each country and culture I absorb.  I've always wanted to travel and been fortunate enough to do so with work over the last 12 years and in my own time.  But next year is all about seeing the places I've not had the chance to see just yet and experiencing that with the wife.  Then finding a job in South Africa and settling down.  Big changes to come and I'd be a liar if I said it wasn't a little scary stepping into the unknown but life's about challenging yourself every step of the way, I think that's one of the stages of growth and personal development.  

If you can make a living out of doing something you enjoy then you've managed something which only a a small percentage of people do in life.  That is part of my journey and hopefully one day I can get there.  Life's too short to spend it doing something you can't fully invest yourself into.      

Do you think about death?

I used to a lot.  Especially when I was younger, I couldn't comprehend the principle of death and the fact that it was going to envelope us all but as I grew older I guess I just embraced it and my perception of it completely changed.  I don't see it as an end now like I used to, I just see it as another chapter.  I spent my early 20s worrying about things that were completely out of my control and it's only recently where I've learnt what will be will be.  I can't control what happens so why bother worrying about it.  I remember being in Iraq and guys were worrying about rockets and mortars hitting them, it never phased me because if it was going to happen worrying about it certainly wasn't going to make me invincible so why bother.  I guess it's just a coping mechanism.

Do you care about the world and everyone in it?

Family and friends are extremely important to me.  I hold them all close and try to have a positive impact on them whenever I can and just treat them the way I wish to be treated.  I do care about the world absolutely and I feel as though I have a connection to everyone in it.  I've got my first Marathon this coming weekend in Chester and that's for a charity of which I have no real connection to but was put onto them by simply watching a documentary and that sparked something in me to want to make some kind of change to those people affected.  At the end of the day, we're all humans.

I,m 34, losing my hair and girls don't look at me anymore.

Is it over?

It's only over when you decide it's over.  Age is just a number, a meaningless figure which society places importance upon.  It has no bearing on my life and I try and seek a positive in everything I do and it's never too late to make changes.

I care about people that care...........

I'm not scared of death..........But scared of becoming sick.......

Never had one specific dream and the goalposts always change.......On good days I'm proud of my family on bad days I hate them for stopping me doing the things I want to do...Probably due to marrying young before I had a chance to really live.......

I'm over 34 but have hair...........and while my accent generally turns heads my looks don't seem to attract the girls as much.......Just as well because I've been unfaithful to my Wife in the past and I feel bad about it !!

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:I care about people that care...........

I'm not scared of death..........But scared of becoming sick.......

Never had one specific dream and the goalposts always change.......On good days I'm proud of my family on bad days I hate them for stopping me doing the things I want to do...Probably due to marrying young before I had a chance to really live.......

I'm over 34 but have hair...........and while my accent generally turns heads my looks don't seem to attract the girls as much.......Just as well because I've been unfaithful to my Wife in the past and I feel bad about it !!

We know, that's why you live at the Oyster.

I'm 22. 1 year out of uni and 5 months into my 1st full time job as a physio. Had to move away from ireland to get it so I'm in lincoln, England at the minute. A lot of you have a lot of experience on me but I look back and can't believe my time in uni is over and feel like I'm too young to be doing this job in a place I don't particularly like away from my family and friends.

I feel like I should have done a lot more before having to move to get work. Was meant to be going to San Francisco for the summer to do a working holiday, playing Gaelic and working on a building site but got this job and felt I couldn't turn it down. I want tied down with a girlfriend or any significant bills at the time so thought I might as well go and get it on the CV.

This is the job that I've went to uni and trained for and I can only be grateful for getting it. I'm living month to month on my wages and just having enough to get by but there's a lot of people worse off than I am. In an ideal world I'll get a job at home ASAP and get back to Ireland to start making some money and enjoying it a bit more.

Well, the girlfriend suffered a miscarriage over the couple of days. Not as bad as the disaster last time but still not great.

Life really is a bitch sometimes.

Anonymous forums are a strange thing. Telling people things you haven't shared with your close friends and family. The are a strange, but worthwhile, outlet.

Onwards and upwards hey.

Sorry to hear that mate. Never had to experience anything like it myself.

Talking as a faceless name on the internet gets rid of the intimacy of face to face human emotion that slot of people, me included, struggle with. I'm very close to my family and friends but there are things I really struggle speaking about, usually to do with how I'm feeling. I like to be seen to the world as this happy go lucky irish fella most of the time.

Like most things baby related, it will hit the woman harder than it will the man. I tend to try and look at situations without emotion, just the way I am I guess and the mrs does the exact opposite.

My feelings are almost irrelevant here, as long as she is ok then to me that is all that matters. Thankfully she is fine, and if I can draw any positives from the situation it is that she wants to try again immediately so I get my leg over pretty much anytime I want.

Lumbering_Jack wrote:Like most things baby related, it will hit the woman harder than it will the man. I tend to try and look at situations without emotion, just the way I am I guess and the mrs does the exact opposite.

My feelings are almost irrelevant here, as long as she is ok then to me that is all that matters. Thankfully she is fine, and if I can draw any positives from the situation it is that she wants to try again immediately so I get my leg over pretty much anytime I want.

You've got a remarkable ability to be poignant and cynical at the same time, good luck with the next attempt.

The Boss wrote:Sorry to hear that mate. Never had to experience anything like it myself.

Seconded. Hope it goes better next time.    

Boss get yourself down to your nearest O'Neills pub and have a :Guinness: on me sir.

Rodders it's the only place in the world with no irish bar. Home for annual leave next Thursday so the wheels will be blown off.