What in your life have you quit, and how hard was it?
Discussion
Worrying and stressing about s
t that doesn't matter, 19th July 2009 when a close friend was killed. It was a reality check, so not at all hard.
Smoking, August 31st 2016. A 20 day a habit of 24 years, unlike others posting I found this tough, really tough. I still have moments when I could really light up.
Eastenders, some 7 years ago, when the health of my head wasn't great. I realised how it thrives on everyone being as nasty as they can to each other, and it was the last thing my health needed. It was easy to quit, I'd watched it since the first episode in 1985, but easy to fall back in to too. Sarah watched it when we first got together, even though I protested, and within weeks I was back up to speed with every story.
The rat race. When the banking crisis came about in 2008 I was in the career of selling IT. I was a Canon Product Manager at an IT disty. When the st hit the fan I lost 3 jobs within 6 months, all because everyone had stopped spending. I thought to myself, why am I doing this? Instead of seeking another job which I was bound to in turn loose I renovated my house, sold it, and bought another house with the equity, and started my business with the change. Best move ever, 9 years on. Hard, to know I needed to get the house to a standard it would sell quickly, and get it there quickly (it sold in 6 days) easy, when the money was in my bank and I could start my journey towards self made, instead of sales targets and dick head middle managers.
t that doesn't matter, 19th July 2009 when a close friend was killed. It was a reality check, so not at all hard. Smoking, August 31st 2016. A 20 day a habit of 24 years, unlike others posting I found this tough, really tough. I still have moments when I could really light up.
Eastenders, some 7 years ago, when the health of my head wasn't great. I realised how it thrives on everyone being as nasty as they can to each other, and it was the last thing my health needed. It was easy to quit, I'd watched it since the first episode in 1985, but easy to fall back in to too. Sarah watched it when we first got together, even though I protested, and within weeks I was back up to speed with every story.
The rat race. When the banking crisis came about in 2008 I was in the career of selling IT. I was a Canon Product Manager at an IT disty. When the s
t hit the fan I lost 3 jobs within 6 months, all because everyone had stopped spending. I thought to myself, why am I doing this? Instead of seeking another job which I was bound to in turn loose I renovated my house, sold it, and bought another house with the equity, and started my business with the change. Best move ever, 9 years on. Hard, to know I needed to get the house to a standard it would sell quickly, and get it there quickly (it sold in 6 days) easy, when the money was in my bank and I could start my journey towards self made, instead of sales targets and dick head middle managers.
br d said:
Fags years ago.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone has given up in the last 10 years or so that just stopped? When I gave up there were no "options". No gum or patches or vapes or anything, you just stopped and got on with it, millions did it. Does anybody do it like that now? It's a massive sector that simply didn't exist 25 years ago, obviously a good thing if it
….........
Now I'm finally starting to think about stopping drinking, it's the last bastion and while I'm not a heavy drinker I must admit I would really miss the stress relief I get from it on a Saturday night. After a few beers is the only time I really switch off. Have to be done eventually no doubt and I think I will find it hard.
Why. You're off the drugs, vegetarian and can no longer exercise due to dodgy knees. Why give up a bit of booze on the weekends??I'd be interested to hear if anyone has given up in the last 10 years or so that just stopped? When I gave up there were no "options". No gum or patches or vapes or anything, you just stopped and got on with it, millions did it. Does anybody do it like that now? It's a massive sector that simply didn't exist 25 years ago, obviously a good thing if it
….........
Now I'm finally starting to think about stopping drinking, it's the last bastion and while I'm not a heavy drinker I must admit I would really miss the stress relief I get from it on a Saturday night. After a few beers is the only time I really switch off. Have to be done eventually no doubt and I think I will find it hard.
You'll be starting your own depression thread at some point I'd imagine.
dave_s13 said:
br d said:
Fags years ago.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone has given up in the last 10 years or so that just stopped? When I gave up there were no "options". No gum or patches or vapes or anything, you just stopped and got on with it, millions did it. Does anybody do it like that now? It's a massive sector that simply didn't exist 25 years ago, obviously a good thing if it
….........
Now I'm finally starting to think about stopping drinking, it's the last bastion and while I'm not a heavy drinker I must admit I would really miss the stress relief I get from it on a Saturday night. After a few beers is the only time I really switch off. Have to be done eventually no doubt and I think I will find it hard.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone has given up in the last 10 years or so that just stopped? When I gave up there were no "options". No gum or patches or vapes or anything, you just stopped and got on with it, millions did it. Does anybody do it like that now? It's a massive sector that simply didn't exist 25 years ago, obviously a good thing if it
….........
Now I'm finally starting to think about stopping drinking, it's the last bastion and while I'm not a heavy drinker I must admit I would really miss the stress relief I get from it on a Saturday night. After a few beers is the only time I really switch off. Have to be done eventually no doubt and I think I will find it hard.
dave_s13 said:
. You're off the drugs, vegetarian and can no longer exercise due to dodgy knees. Why give up a bit of booze on the weekends??
There is that.
I am finding recovering from beer harder and harder, I do tend to swear off the day after but by the next weekend it seems like a good idea again!
dave_s13 said:
be starting your own depression thread at some point I'd imagine.
Never been happier actually, consider myself very lucky to be in my 50's and content.What are your vices Dave?
Drugs.
Without writing my life story, I started 25 years ago with speed, then pills, then coke. The latter has been a pretty regular thing for the last 10 years, but became not just for recreational use and much more of a habit in the last 3.
But I hope I've knocked it on the head now, and not touched any for almost 4 months.
Without writing my life story, I started 25 years ago with speed, then pills, then coke. The latter has been a pretty regular thing for the last 10 years, but became not just for recreational use and much more of a habit in the last 3.
But I hope I've knocked it on the head now, and not touched any for almost 4 months.
antspants said:
Drugs.
Without writing my life story, I started 25 years ago with speed, then pills, then coke. The latter has been a pretty regular thing for the last 10 years, but became not just for recreational use and much more of a habit in the last 3.
But I hope I've knocked it on the head now, and not touched any for almost 4 months.
Nicely done mate, seen too many friends ruin their lives with coke, coming back from it is an impressive feat! Without writing my life story, I started 25 years ago with speed, then pills, then coke. The latter has been a pretty regular thing for the last 10 years, but became not just for recreational use and much more of a habit in the last 3.
But I hope I've knocked it on the head now, and not touched any for almost 4 months.
br d said:
Never been happier actually, consider myself very lucky to be in my 50's and content.
What are your vices Dave?
I try to maintain a strict Monday to Thursday no alcohol rule.What are your vices Dave?
Friday and Saturday I might have a few depending on what's going on but I struggle with hangovers now age 40 so don't go mental too often.
Haven't smoked for over 15 years.
I'm pretty boring really, you can't be too reckless when you've got 3 young kids to marshal about the place; with a proper hangover it is genuinely upsetting.
There's nothing wrong with a bit of booze at the weekends, as long as it's not a 48hr bender obviously.
I gave up professional yacht racing in my mid-twenties.
By the time I was 22, I had won the Fastnet Race, the Hobart, 4 x RORC Offshore Series, 3 x JOG Offshore Series, was voted JOG Junior Champion at age 17 and numerous inshore / coastal and Dinghy Series. Having spent a few years racing Offshore big boats, I’d spent everything I had on campaigning for the 1996 Olympics, but just missed out on a place.
This was still a time where it was bloody difficult to make a living from being a sportsman in an obscure sport. Sponsors were incredibly hard to come by and the sponsorship only just paid for kit to keep going.
I woke up one morning and had a blinding flash of the bleeding obvious and realised that I was never going to make a stable career out of it, so stepped away from the real professional stuff.
I still race now, but only for fun and am nowhere near as quick as I was. Weirdly, as soon as I made the decision to step away from trying to find that extra Nth, or bending the rules as far as I could I started enjoying it a hell of a lot more.
By the time I was 22, I had won the Fastnet Race, the Hobart, 4 x RORC Offshore Series, 3 x JOG Offshore Series, was voted JOG Junior Champion at age 17 and numerous inshore / coastal and Dinghy Series. Having spent a few years racing Offshore big boats, I’d spent everything I had on campaigning for the 1996 Olympics, but just missed out on a place.
This was still a time where it was bloody difficult to make a living from being a sportsman in an obscure sport. Sponsors were incredibly hard to come by and the sponsorship only just paid for kit to keep going.
I woke up one morning and had a blinding flash of the bleeding obvious and realised that I was never going to make a stable career out of it, so stepped away from the real professional stuff.
I still race now, but only for fun and am nowhere near as quick as I was. Weirdly, as soon as I made the decision to step away from trying to find that extra Nth, or bending the rules as far as I could I started enjoying it a hell of a lot more.
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