gee, and here I thought the thread was maybe about winning things...I won an Clay pot chicken cooker one time...smiles*.....am I lucky, only if you call perspiration...inspiration instead. I am an Indgo child you know..now it's also been called Hyperactive...and before that "unpredictable" and always on the go. My father's favorite words were always "nobody never gave me an thing"..and true to his word he went to the "great beyond" doing just that to me more or less. I'm getting to old to care these days any more about it, though a little help would of made my life completely different I think. I don't want my son to be stuck with such an legacy. He's an only son, and I've already found out people are cruel to him for just that alone some days. Kind of an jealousy of him undeserved. I am real good at winning games on the net, when it comes to cards,.very lousy at the cascino's few times have I barely broke over even of what I've put in..much to their liking. They will always be in business with me around. But if would sure feel nice to win it big someday..I can't ever think in my life of having things that "confortable" where I could do anything I ever wanted to do.

I'm lucky because I am well. Even though I have 50% hearing loss in each ear I still consider myself lucky when I see Stephen, an 11 year old child who cannot communicate very well, cannot carry his own tray of food and walks very 'awkward' and for short distances only. He will never climb mountains like I have, amble round the countryside taking photographs. He'll never get called 'fog horn' like I have () and probably will never get a job like the two I have and moan about!  

I never win the lotto, or raffles held in work. I don't have a fancy house or a car of any sorts. I don't look like a supermodel or own jewels. I'm still lucky though. 

 What a fascinating thread!

This is something I've been thinking about recently so I hope you don't mind me joining in!

 The other day I listened to a fascinating programme about a group of people who were asked to write a letter to themselves at a point in their lives from some years distant. Some wrote to themselves as babies and tried to explain what to expect from life and others wrote to themselves as young adults. Some young people wrote to themselves in midlife about how they thought their lives would turn out. 

Others took it a step further and then wrote letters to their children in the form of a journal which they said they would give to them at some point in the future, outlining their hopes and fears for them and advice if they would take it.

It’s quite a challenging thing to do and somehow quite enlightening too. I wrote one to myself at the age of seventeen (quite a while ago now!!)  It's a strange experience giving yourself advice and the benefit of your experience from "the other side" as it were!!  It’s not something that everyone would want to do because it is very introspective but it is worthwhile having a go at.  For me it drew a line under something of a midlife crisis that I've just come through - I hope!

Of course we don't mind, Marilyn. Welcome!

What a great idea, Marilyn!  Hmmm, you've got me thinking that it would be interesting to do a reverse order and write a letter from the perspective of my older self to me now.

I say this because I recently made a comment about getting older, and a woman in her 60's said to me, "I'd give anything to be your age again".  Made me think about all that I have and can still do that I may be taking for granted.

Well, my family wasn’t very well-off financially. However, I certainly didn’t suffer in the love and guidance department.

My mom had Hodgkins for most of my adolescent and adult life and my father suffered three heart attacks between 35 and 43 years old. He was medically retired at 43 and spent the rest of his life caring for my mother.

As busy as he was doing this, he was never too busy to dispense advice. He taught me how to make good decisions at a very early age. One of the most important things he taught me with regard to making good decisions was

“Is it going to do you some good for the long haul, or is it just going to give you short term enjoyment?”

Second, he taught me how to solve the immediate problem while working toward a long-term solution.

Armed with those lessons, I graduated high school, worked a spell at several different jobs and at 20 years old, with a good job and a decent bank account I married my high school sweetheart. A year later, we had a son and I got laid off (made redundant for you blokes) right after he was born. I had a couple of trades to fall back on, but I wasn’t happy.

At that point, I decided to join the military (something I had always wanted to do) and train as a jet engine mechanic.

I joined the USAF and before we knew it, the boy was grown up and I reached my twenty-year mark and retired.

After I retired from the USAF, I continued working as an environmental consultant to the government. I am now a member of the civil service in the occupational health and environmental compliance and engineering career field.

However, these accomplishments are not my successes. My successes are working through all the lows of the past thirty-five years. The periods of family separation while on deployment, moving every three years, helping my son cope with another change of school and loss of friends and maintaining a healthy relationship with my wife…without whom I would never have made it through all of this.

Success is not about money or possessions. It’s about rising through life and all of its twists and turns…surviving to do it again. Success is not letting life wear you down, not giving up or giving in. Success is living to fight another day.

Everyone here is a success story, whether they think so or not.

I didn't know you have a son, Bob!! 

I like your story...I like everyone's story here. It was a great idea for a thread. It really makes one think, and take a look inside and take stock of your life and realize....it's all good!!