velohead66

No worries on that score, it is not my thing !

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Well for me at 46 i still feel like i'm 25 but a lot wiser about the things that are important in life and new stuff isn't such a big deal as you say.

For me it's about inner peace and happiness which depends what you want and expect from your life, possessions and doing new stuff can't make you happy if your not at peace with your self.

This comes from direction/ having a plan then the fulfilment of said plan or at least the steps of it, give me my personal gratification from knowing that i'm doing what i want to do and succeeding, all be it at a slow pace.

I think it depends on your out look as to what level of satisfaction you get from life and the older i get the more i see this is true for me.

It's difficult to work out what it's all about and i think thats an individual thing as well.

I started by deciding what i didn't want to be doing in 10yrs time, as i think we all know or can work out the things we don't like about our lives, then i arrived at what i did want by default and a process of elimination.

It may seem like it's a bit off topic but you have to go backwards sometimes to find the right path, life has a way of taking over and forcing you in certain directions, then you look back and see your not where you imagined you would be, and the shine has worn off the things that used to make you happy or give you a buzz.

I does take b4lls to turn your life around and get the magic back, it's also not easy, but it would be no fun if it was easy, you sure as hell won't find it if you don't do anything about it.

I was doing pretty well by average bloke from a council estate standards £30k Volvo V50 all the toys, 6 week holiday, good pension,near the top of the tree in my field, i'd traveled a lot had bikes,cars,boats but i was bored of my life and looked at where i was headed and though bolax to that i'm off.

Now i'm on a big hill in Croatia overlooking a valley to the sea in a knackered old farm house slowly doing it up and turning it into apartments on a very tight budget and i drive around in an old rover 25 and i couldn't be happier, and i get a buzz every day, go figure.

Badger sti

Life is what you make of it. You only get out what you put in. If your not happy then change something. Easier said than done I know, but you only get one chance. Everyone has regrets, look back at a certain time in your life and you will think " I wish I had done that ".
If you feel you are at that point again change, happiness is a state of mind and if your mind isn't in the right state your not happy.
With most people it is probably their fitness or the way they look, spare tyre or bulging belly. This has got to be the easiest place to start as diet and exercise cost little and have a massive effect on well being.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Not sure why you quoted me and then wrote this, seems like you didn't read everything i wrote.

I totally agree, i walk 6 miles a day, eat very well, all fresh locally grown produce and i turned my life around, couldn't be happier.

Badger sti

Oops. Sorry hit wrong button, quote instead of reply. Glad to see your happy though and keeping fit.

Lydia72

I like buying new stuff as much as the next woman but if you ask me what my top five moments of 2012* were none of them revolve around shopping or possessions. "Things" make you happy for a short time after purchase but on their death-bed no one wants to look back on their life and say "Well I had a great flatscreen TV so at least that means something".

I've travelled round a fair bit (and agree with Ray; Antarctica is amazing, get there if you can and realise how insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things!) so the downside is I drive the world's oldest Impreza because I've spent all my spare cash on holidays.
My last Scooby got stolen and it sure makes you realise that possessions can be taken away at any point but memories and experiences are there forever.

*Best moment of 2012: waking up at 5am so I could get to the top of Snowdon before the crowds arrived

Leslie

Good thinking!

Les

pslewis

I did this a few years ago.

The drive from our Camp to the base of Snowdon was amazing, in the Scooby, misty morning, smooth roads, stunning scenery.

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

Those feelings are totally normal.

Two facts

1. To a child everything is bright and exciting and these feelings slowly disappear the older we get. We still have these feelings of stimulation and anticipation in our 20s and 30s, but eventually they fade. It is very hard to get so excited about anything. It is all part of getting older. It is even more compounded if you have seen more of life than most - as then it is even harder to get stimulated by anything as you really have experienced most situations before.


2. Life in the electronic, internet age has become more sterile.
As a microcosm if you look at the railway thread on here.
Trains once had smells noises character now they are quite dull plastic things that do not move the soul. I am not saying one is better than the other. But one was more real and gritty and stimulated you more the other is emotional flat line. Take that tiny example and then spread it across most aspects of life and that is the other key reason why it is harder to get excited about things.

You just have to remain philosophical about it all and still seek out stuff that you enjoy.
The flip side of the sterility is that in many aspects technology has enabled a better quality of life.

Chip

Hope you both had a full breakfast at Petes after climbing Snowdon.

http://www.petes-eats.co.uk/

Lydia72

Sadly missed that one but will remember it for next time and if you could arrange for there not to be any mist/ fog that'd be great, bloody Welsh weather; couldn't see a thing at the summit.

I did it on a pot of instant porridge (because at that time of the morning nowhere was open for breakfast) and then half a cream scone from the cafe at the top

Leslie

Being only 5 feet tall Pete, you would not have got as high as most!

Les

Chip

I can do a lot of things but that is asking the impossible

I spent a week working up the road in Cwm Y Glo and we didnt see the summit once, and that was in the spring as well.

Lydia72

This was the middle of July, patchy mist all the way up and then no decent photo at the top because you couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of you. Just glad I hadn't wasted £25 on the train

Turbohot

Good post, sir.

paulr

I think the biggest change as you get older is the effort-sense of achievement ratio increases.

Matteeboy

I did similar last year.

Cracking drive there (406 miles), met a potential client who's an expert climber (I'm not!), we hiked up. We did the "knife edge" ridge (Crib Goch) and I admit to properly bricking it - thank God he knows it so well! We did the whole horseshoe.

The next day the heavens opened and it was grim - ideal timing!





Cornwall is great but they forgot to fit any mountains!!

Oh my gleaming bonce does make a fine emergency beacon in case of an emergency ;-)

Lydia72

Nice pics
I detest ridges (did I mention I have vertigo? ) and if there's a route without any then that's the one I always choose so for Snowdon it was up via Rhyd Ddu and down the Snowdon Ranger.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes reckoned if he climbed the Eiger - north face - it would cure his vertigo. He did, and it didn't, so no hope for me then.

I live in Lincs where it's flat as a pancake, the steepest thing I get to climb is the stairs at home. Luckily the Peak District is within a couple of hours and I get to the Lakes whenever possible so all is not lost

velohead66

Great post, ditchmyster, this post is very inspirational to me.
And other posts from other posters too, btw.

Yes, at this point in time I don't feel I have inner peace or happiness, and am unsure which way to go in life. Once I find my direction, I think happiness and fulfilment will come back to me.

Not off topic to me, I feel that I have perhaps followed the path of least resistance, rather then a planned and considered path , but i guess it is never too late.






I think I am well over physical things, and don't consider myself too materialistic.
But i do have a lot of sh*te to get rid of, especially from the garage.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

No worries, some people think i'm bonkers, when i say stuff like that, but i recon it's good to take stock every once and a while so you don't get in too deep a rut.

Start by setting yourself a few very easy achievable goals, like clearing the garage out, take some stuff to a car boot sale, it's amazing what crap people will buy, and whats left to the charity shop.

While your at it just think about the stuff you don't like about your life, as i said which helps you figure out what you do like and want to do more of.

Sounds like your somewhere around where i was 6 years ago, i think they call it a mid life crisis and for me it was, but don't despair, we are all masters of our own destiny, and your on the right path in that at least you were able to recognise it, so many people just amble through life unhappy with their lot, i'm not even sure that they see what a miserable existence they have, so in that respect your in the top 10% all you have to do now is find a direction that suits you.

In a society where perceived happiness is based on success, wealth and power over others it's no wonder so many people lose their way or as i did, get to the top of your tree on a couple of occasions in my career, only to find the view is not all it's cracked up to be.

Little by little, bit by bit is the secret it is possible to change things, life is not written in stone and there is no manual, which is all part of the fun.

Chip

MIL lives in Lincs and it's always bloody windy there with an aroma of rotting cabbages where she is.

velohead66

Thanks ditchmyster, your posts have hit the nail on the head, and provide a way forward.

And thanks everyone else, all your posts have helped me in some way, too.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Glad to be of some assistance.
Good luck mate.

r32

Mmmm. Good thread.
I've found that pleasure comes in different ways as you get older, particularly as the numbers rack up after 60. The intense buzz you feel at a younger age when doing something dangerous becomes less. I've found that the desire to live longer and not hurt yourself stops me. I still mountain bike several times every week, but am not interested in risking life and limb on some decents I used to do. A tumble now leaves me with a permanent pain. I twisted my knee at Cannock and now have a sore knee if I push it, it wont get better. I came off another time and hurt my thumb, I still have a swollen and sore joint over 18 months later. We go walking with friends and I find immense pleasure at being out in a beautiful place on a nice day with good friends. Its more of a golden warm glow. I've always had fast cars, but I find that less pleasing. But I do love my motorbike and get a great buzz from being out, but I'm never going to get my knee down!

Leslie

I have not managed that yet either. Think I have had too much gravel rash when I was younger to risk it again!

Les