So smoking was not such a good idea . Timelines

a reply to: hutch622

We are the captains of our own destinies.

Embrace what you have, embrace hat you've done.

Regret is the poison of the past that taints the future.

Best wishes on your surgery. Accept it, make the changes you want to change and live your life.

We spend so much time in the past worrying about what we could have done and spend little time focusing on what we can still do.

(sorry, just random Wednesday morning musings)

Just curious, how long were you a smoker?

a reply to: SlapMonkey

As for the philosophical thoughts...back away from "The Butterfly Effect." It'll screw with your head.

Lots of things screw with my head , like for instance there is no end to space and that is hard to get my head around as everything in my life is finite . The Butterfly effect is what this thread is about and for some reason i can get my head around that , you change the timeline and everything from then on changes , well for me and those that come into contact with me me anyways .

a reply to: kosmicjack

Or 15 minutes a day on a rebounder/mini-tramp.

Sadly i am lucky to walk 200 meters . A trampoline would have me in a great deal of pain in short time .

a reply to: ValentineWiggin

40 years roughly

a reply to: DBCowboy

Best wishes on your surgery. Accept it, make the changes you want to change and live your life.

Thank you . I promissed my daughter we would do a fun run together this year but going on another timeline i wont have much time to go from barely walking to running 7-9 ks .

originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: DBCowboy

Best wishes on your surgery. Accept it, make the changes you want to change and live your life.

Thank you . I promissed my daughter we would do a fun run together this year but going on another timeline i wont have much time to go from barely walking to running 7-9 ks .

Then walk it.

Who said you had to run?

originally posted by: hutch622
You know how you have read or heard about a smokers arteries narrowing but never met someone who had this happen to them , well here i am .I have PAD ( peripheral artery disease ) . Now in most cases this can be fixed with angioplasty followed by a stent if needed . Well that boat has sailed a long time ago , and in my case I need Vascular surgery , and its quite the big operation as my surgeon has stressed many times . Basically my Aorta gets bypassed down into my legs , both of them , and its an operation that is not without considerable risks . But here is the thing . If i did not have that first cigarette the whole time line changes . Would i have the same children i have now . Would i have even married the same person , does that 5 minutes multiply . Am i justifying smoking in my own mind . Thoughts ATS . I chose to smoke , but if i did not who knows .
ETA this is more about the butterfly effect than the smoking side but i appreciate all advice and will look into it .

We all make choices in life. Sometimes the smallest decisions today can lead to good or bad results in the future. There really is no point in saying shoulda, coulda, woulda... you made the choice to smoke at some point and now here you are. All you can do is decide to have the surgery or not and make lifestyle changes at this point. As you said, maybe the fact you started smoking created a decision point which also led to some happiness in your life.

a reply to: hutch622

Can;t take back all those smoke breaks...

got the message I see, thanks for sharing the after effects.

a reply to: hutch622

Yep.

"Back To The Future" is one of my favorite movies, not just the for the goofy humor, but for the implications of the butterfly effect and time travel. It's all good stuff, but man, that "Butterfly Effect" movie with Ashton Kutcher will, as the oracle in "The Matrix" says, really bake your noodle.

a reply to: hutch622

Basically: never have regrets. You're happy with your life, right? It's not perfect, nobody's is. You need vascular surgery. You've made some bad choices, we all have. But butterfly effect... There's probably a real good chance your kids were never born if you never smoked. Other kids, sure, but you would have had a myriad of different social interactions, and your whole life would have been different.

So best wishes with the surgery and heal well. And quit smoking if you haven't already. But don't regret anything, even the less ideal choices.

And by the way, I don't think you're trying to justify smoking - you're dealing with confronting the realities, and being challenged by the temptation of regret. Never look back in anger.

a reply to: hutch622

I don't know about the what if's but I know I wish I had never started smoking. We can't change it though, all we can do is hope we survive the consequences. Best of luck to you. Well wishes.

a reply to: dogstar23

Sorry about the delay in replying . Outstanding reply , one of the best i have seem . And yes , trying to give up .