Your favourite age or time period in your life

a reply to: WarriorMH

Good point
The last couple of years have been crap, my best mate and working partner fell off a sea cliff drunk to his death waiting for the sunrise. And in the last 12 months I've been having blackouts randomly which are as yet unexplained, lots of cuts, bruises, and grazes because I only get a second or so warning in my head before I fall. I've been banned from driving by my doctors for obvious reasons, and I can't work on scaffolding or use certain power tools for safety reasons.

I'm optimistic as always though, just like my blood type (B positive lol), got another CT scan this afternoon so fingers crossed they'll find a reason why it's happening. It's definitely a brain thing because I had a heart monitor on for a week where I had to press a button every time I blacked out, so they've ruled out it stopping and lack of oxygen to the brain.

I'm just glad I live in the UK because at least all my treatment is free at the point of need based on the thousands I've paid in taxes over the years. If these blackouts can be fixed then with luck I'll be saying the next X number of years in my life are the best.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

I am so sorry to learn that you are suffering with this, but it sounds just like what a family member was going through recently. It turned out to be a vascular disease which was cutting off the oxygen to her brain and she was having what she called mini strokes, which involved passing out and loss of memory and difficulty in thinking. Once it was diagnosed she received the proper medication and seems to be doing a whole lot better. Good luck and I hope it turns out to be something treatable and curable.

Teen years in the 70's. Awesome time to be a kid.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

I will shock you now and say I don't think it's trite or geeky as you've explained it.
Again, I know we've also crossed swords on the forums many times but I absolutely agree, living the 'now' is the key, although with the caveat that I do look back at some memories with more fondness than others.
You must have a time when it was 'rock n roll' though? A time when it was carefree and fun.

This may be hard to believe CornishCeltGuy, but I have never been carefree. I have had lots of fun, but theres never been a day of my life in my memory, that wasn't full of concern and worry. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother crying over our figures, trying to do work out the income and outgoings for a month, and desperate over the fact that we had no idea where our next meal was coming from. Even having the best fun I have ever had, I was never able to let go of the need to look over my shoulder, because I knew I was only ever one tiny adjustment away from calamity. When you grow up with a functionless father, and have the capacity to grasp the severity of your situation, you never develop the ability to completely let go.

Don't get me wrong, my whole adult life has been about either the "rock and roll" as you put it, or facilitating my access to it, if you look at it from that perspective. But I am better at letting go now than I have ever been. I never do the whole job mind you, but I get better at it every year. I have to, for my mental healths sake. I have a metal festival coming up next month, and I will get as close as I have ever been to relaxed and carefree whilst there. But even there, in that hallowed place, there will be a significant part of my mind, going "You could come back to find everything has collapsed, the business could implode at any moment, trade has been awful, we can't survive without food, we can't buy food without money, we can't make money without the business, Oh Jesus Christ! Help me! I am not waving, I am drowning!"... Its just how it is and always has been for me.

I've got a civil service pension kicking in when I turn 60. It's under 20 years away now and I'm looking forward to travelling Asia again on the cheap, doing nothing but chilling by beaches and meeting new people. It will be my new adventure if you like...the 'mid-life crisis' starts in our 60's these days lol
Enjoy living your 'now' though fella, you can make it whatever you want...that has been my mantra to my son all his life.

And its a damned good mantra. Its something I am still working on, and probably will still be working on when I cop it. Haha! I hope your adventure is everything you hope it will be!

a reply to: InTheLight

Ah thank you!
I'm always positive though, whining over stuff I can't fix myself has never helped me lol
CT scanner reminded me of Stargate today, should have results in a day or two.
I stopped at a bench outside the hospital afterwards and got chatting to some poor girl with serious mental health problems, we couldn't decide if we would swap each others conditions if say a genie came out of a bottle giving us the choice. Mine is causing me major problems but only a few times a day whereas hers is all the time.

The poor thing said she has no friends because she can't interact with other people, to which I replied 'well you're doing alright with me since I sat down here' then she said 'Ah but you started the conversation first, I could never do it', made me quite sad for her to be honest.
We parted, exchanged names and I said if she sees me in town to say hi and we'll grab a friendly coffee and a chat.

There's always someone worse off than us, sometimes I just need reminding.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

Yes, having any type of cognition problem seems to cause a lack of self-confidence and isolation, but maybe that is because so many people are intolerant or stressed these days to take the time to reach out like you and her did.

a reply to: intrepid

I was only tiny in the 70's so don't remember much, but the 80's in Britain...that was a bleak period when aside from bankers everyone was pretty much poor in my area.
I love 70's music though, Motown and disco etc

a reply to: TrueBrit

Oh mate, I understand that worry, genuinely.
I've developed a strategy in my own life where I force myself to interpret anxiety into excitement. Two very similar states of mind just one is nicer than the other.
I bet you can't wait for the festival! Not my cup of tea music wise, I'm into house/techno/trance, but the experience of being with likeminded music folk having fun is exactly the same.
I did go to a metal night once though and to be fair I had a massive laugh

originally posted by: InTheLight
a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

Yes, having any type of cognition problem seems to cause a lack of self-confidence and isolation, but maybe that is because so many people are intolerant or stressed these days to take the time to reach out like you and her did.

I reach out to any fellow human regardless of their status or condition. I stopped and sat on the pavement/sidewalk with a homeless guy I know just an hour ago, had a chat over a smoke, gave him a cigarette and had a few laughs. It's crazy how many people walk past looking with disgust like I was with someone who had leprosy.

We have really old stone 'smugglers steps' from the beaches/harbour etc here and I use some daily because I live on the clifftop. I meet poor souls often and stop to talk asking 'are you okay mate?' or whatever. Met a guy crying last week or so, his mother had died the week before and his life was in turmoil. I stopped with him for a good while letting him pour out his woes until he stopped crying, then gently touched his shoulder when I went on my way.
He thanked me so much for caring and I said it's just something we all should for each other.

Again, he reminded me that my life is good.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

At my stage in life I now question people's behaviour verbally, I have no qualms about making scenes in public when I think a wrong is being made. The last time I was in a fast food restaurant the Manager came up to me and another woman (we being the same age) and asked us to order our food using the new computerized menu, well the woman in front of me said 'no' because it is taking jobs away from young people, and I said 'yeah, that's right' - no reply or comment from the Manager or anyone else there and it was full with people.

I am now a city gal living in a very small town and when I went into the small church to cast a vote within the small talk with the town's gals, I mentioned that I like the neighbouring town's bakery and the people that run and work in it (having visited it multiple times because I am addicted to their lemon and chocolate/pecan/caramel brownies), anyway, the two women both dissed the town and the people in it. My reply to them was that perhaps because I am a city gal my expectations of others' are different from theirs. Both became silent, then one of the women asked if I wanted to join their euchre club. I replied that I am recovering from an exhaustion phase in life and I find card playing (except poker) very boring and that once I feel better that I will take up oil painting again.

The point is I seem to have and still am encountering intolerance or bias or perhaps it's just that life has a way of chewing us up and spitting us out and some remain bitter and miserable, or some have just given up. Perhaps there are many more reasons we just can't see up front.

a reply to: InTheLight

Cool stories
I'm the same, I'll speak to strangers as comfortably as I'll speak to friends.
I've defended cashiers/store workers from horrible customers many times "Don't pick on him/her, it's not their fault" etc etc.
Some people are bitter and take their bitterness out on other people, but I won't let it slide if I see it. My life tribe of friends and family are all the same, and there are many of us.
I know in the OP I said my favourite time of life was 29 to late 30's, but if I consider the friendships I have now, they are the same people (and a few more) but friendships of decades now. Deep friendships...so in that sense my life is richer than it ever has been.

...I just try to share the love with strangers every time I can.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

This is going to sound maudlin, but I love the time I'm in right now. I am 60, working my ass off, the sun is hot, the sea is near, and I can work as long or short as I choose.

I remember a time in my 20's when I was full of wonder and everything was amazing. My choices were legion.

Life is much the same, sans the choices, except I am much older. I can do anything I choose, just slower than before. I hurt myself almost constantly in the course of my construction duties. That's okay. It's the way of things.

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy
a reply to: WarriorMH

Good point

The last couple of years have been crap, my best mate and working partner fell off a sea cliff drunk to his death waiting for the sunrise. And in the last 12 months I've been having blackouts randomly which are as yet unexplained, lots of cuts, bruises, and grazes because I only get a second or so warning in my head before I fall. I've been banned from driving by my doctors for obvious reasons, and I can't work on scaffolding or use certain power tools for safety reasons.

I'm optimistic as always though, just like my blood type (B positive lol), got another CT scan this afternoon so fingers crossed they'll find a reason why it's happening. It's definitely a brain thing because I had a heart monitor on for a week where I had to press a button every time I blacked out, so they've ruled out it stopping and lack of oxygen to the brain.

I'm just glad I live in the UK because at least all my treatment is free at the point of need based on the thousands I've paid in taxes over the years. If these blackouts can be fixed then with luck I'll be saying the next X number of years in my life are the best.

I'm sorry to hear that, i wish you the best but i know you are very strong and optimistic so i don't doubt this will be another thing that adds to your strength

I could not say for the health care because of how i have been living for almost 10 years i never had any of those things but all is paid for every time, i don't remember how it was before lol, i had no clue how the world worked lmao

I have a friend that some times she gets black outs but is like every month or two or so, i know is not nice to have something like that because i have seen how she feels, but please keep strong and fight and be around much more, i think you are a great person and a lot of people need you to continue to be. Never give up please

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

6 years old. The tooth fairy visits, everything is exciting and new, adventures all round, full of energy, no pressures - education or work, full of belief in any and everything, ect, etc. Frankly, it's all downhill after that.

Mid 20's as an alternative. For starters, you still feel young!

a reply to: WarriorMH

Ah thank you!
I'm more shamed when I black out than anything, happened in the supermarket the other day and I came round to kindly faces checking on my welfare. I said I'm fine now thank you it's just something that happens, then scurried away lol.
It made me smile inside that people do still care about fellow humans, same again happened in the high street and people came to my aid, I'm only out for a few seconds though so was just in time to get someone to cancel their call to 999 (UK 911 version).

So without whining about these last couple of years I must add that having crappy periods in life really helps us appreciate the beautiful moments. My friend who I mentioned fell of a cliff and died has his birthday tomorrow and maybe 50 or so of us are going to his apple tree for a picnic and to raise a glass or two, his favourite music blasting out etc. (He was very popular in our tribe)
Moments like tomorrow are what makes life beautiful to me, togetherness, friendship and deep love between fellow humans.

I've been a bit poor lately with only being able to work the odd few days, totally cleaned my savings out lol, but the riches in my life are the people I share it with. I wouldn't trade my people for any amount of money, sounds cheesy, but it's true.

a reply to: Flavian

The tooth fairy haha yes!
My childhood was carefree and crazy compared to kids these days, aged 8 me and my twin sister would cycle miles away round the coast, our parents didn't have a clue where we were, no mobile phones.
I allowed my own son similar freedoms when he was young, I remember letting him walk to the local shop for the first time to get some sweets (candy) or whatever when he was 5. He was so excited and felt so grown up, it was a milestone for him.
Of course I was secretly watching him from a distance just to be sure he got there safe, but building his confidence and an independent spirit was massively important to me, and I pulled it off, he's a successful early 20's lad doing better than me these days.

originally posted by: argentus
a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

This is going to sound maudlin, but I love the time I'm in right now. I am 60, working my ass off, the sun is hot, the sea is near, and I can work as long or short as I choose.

I remember a time in my 20's when I was full of wonder and everything was amazing. My choices were legion.

Life is much the same, sans the choices, except I am much older. I can do anything I choose, just slower than before. I hurt myself almost constantly in the course of my construction duties. That's okay. It's the way of things.

Sorry I missed this
Your 60's sounds exactly how I want mine to be when I get there!
Well, except the work, hot sun and sea for sure, maybe do some work to keep myself occupied but I've got a civil service pension which will kick in aged 60 and it will be enough for me to live on cheap places like Asia (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia etc) so that's my plan.

Cheers for the reply. The property owner I do most of my work for is in his 60's and strong as an ox, your post reminded me of him because although he's a millionaire, he'll shovel concrete with the next man.

unquestionably the summer of 1976. the days were long and hot. my friends and i were on summer holiday from school and spent all day, everyday, heading off to the woods to climb trees, jump rivers, drink warm orange juice and eat jam sarnies. the problems of adulthood were not yet our concern so we lived in, and for, the moment. home by sunset, tired, happy, ready for tea (supper) and the welcoming bed, there to replay the day's capers in our dreams. oh how i wish to go back. growing up was the greatest disappointment of them all.

a reply to: RoScoLaz5

I keep hearing about that summer of '76 and it sounds crazy hot. My older brothers tell me about it.
Are kids these days even allowed out on their own these days?
The world has changed big time, or people's perceptions of it has.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

oh man, was it ever hot. that's the overriding theme of my memories of the time. and kids today, well, i pity their experience of childhood in comparison to ours back then. there was a freedom and innocence about being a kid then which is irretrievably lost to the children of now. change is inevitable but often regrettable