Mate, we've not interacted much on the board but please, please don't fall into that trap of assessing your life that way. I appreciate that there is probably no point in me saying that as I often fall into that trap myself. By an objective definition I have probably "succeeded" - I have a good job and earn well over the national minimum wage. You know what though, despite paying into a pension for over 30 years all the projections I get tell me that it really wasn't worth it! I wish I'd enjoyed the money when I could rather than stuck it away. I try to steer my boys towards their passions rather then tell them they have to get a "good" job and have to do x,y and z. We're never happy as people, at least in my experience, I still think "I wish I had this or wish I could have that". I lost my Dad when he was young and my mums health is significantly failing her now and I know that in all reality this will probably be her last Christmas. If you have your health and you have lived a life that has fulfilled you on a daily basis you've achieved an awful lot fella.
All the best Mr C, I lost my dad to Covid just over a year ago and I miss him so much. Best wishes to th BBSer who is having a really tough time
Chin up, @Mr C. It's all too easy to pull ourselves down when we're feeling low, but we should try to avoid judging our whole life by where we are at the moment. It's the journey that matters, not the destination. You are clearly a warm-hearted, caring, talented bloke. By no means a "failure" (whatever that means). You've walked your own path, and should take some comfort in that - I suspect that if you could go back and do it again, you wouldn't change very much. Anyway, this song is for you. A little melancholy, perhaps, but it sums things up nicely, I think. "My spirit's free, you won't get me Into the box your life is locked in, Your value system's broken down, I see it blocks the road it stopped in, And every day the things you crave Make a play for my affection, I tell you straight, I won't be swayed, I'm walking in the opposite direction. They scream at me from flashing screens, They hassle me from city walls, But these are other people's dreams, They don't resemble mine at all, And every day the things you crave Make a play for my affection I tell you straight, I won't be swayed I'm walking in the opposite direction. The stuff that you hold dear and high, How does it warrant such devotion? I think you've lost the reason why, Though you still carry on the motion, And every day the things you crave Make a play for my affection, I tell you straight, I won't be swayed I'm walking in the opposite direction."
.Hey up Mr C. I reckon everyones covered what I wanted to say. But ( genuine question) if you could turn the clock back. Would you have done anything different. I've always instilled into my kids. Money helps. But it's not everything. I fortunately enjoy/ed my job. And I'd put that over money any day. I have worked to live. Never lived to work. Never bought anything to put myself in debt. The only time I didn't have a pot to piss in. was the miners strike. ( Would I do it again.? Absolutely ) My mrs had given up work to look after the kids. So from what I've picked up on this forum. About yourself. Failure. Far from it. "Keep thi chin up" as we say.
Aye, note to self. Don’t go on the internet when you’re pissed.?! To be fair, my spelling & grammar is pretty much spot on.?!
Aye, get a trade, kids.!! My old pal Jim, came round to fix our washing machine, years back. For nowt. On an evening, you my have found him playing a Flying V, in a jacket his Mam made him from an old Paddington Bear bedspread.. !
There's plenty to rant about at the minute mate. Just seen the PM Garden meeting picture. Off the fridge myself now!
Loved Steve Johnson.(Various bands including Guns n oatcakes and played alongside Phil lynott) with his Flying V. (Had to look it up btw. Lol.)
It seems the words below is a fair summary of what you did, so give yourself a great big pat on the back. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain
Aw, Sam Clemens. . One of my literary heroes. Watch the beautiful Ken Burns documentary. Have had it in recently..