The Pursuit of Happiness

My childhood was amazing. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I wouldn’t say the same for my teenage years. From the age of 13 my life would revolve around drink, parties, terrible music and getting into trouble. Typical hangouts would be woods, parks, street corners, shops, train stations and rundown flats. I was going to nightclubs at 15 and by the time I turned 18 I had lost interest in what my home town had to offer.  My 2 years in University was a waste of time and would have been much better spent in Afghanistan. I wouldn’t say I was unhappy during these years but I was bored. I see these years as my wasted years. 

So I am now closing in on 30 and if I don’t change my lifestyle now I won’t have many more chances to do so. My move to Thailand will give me the chance for a new start. Not only will I have plenty of time on my hands but I will have a positive climate work with. I intend to use this opportunity. I have tried on occasions to start new hobbies and activities but I lose interest quick or lack the motivation to follow through. My strategy was wrong. I was taking on hobbies which I wasn’t fully interested in and was not giving myself any aims or goals.

I have therefore decided to take a new approach and look back on what motivated in my early life and what influenced the decline to my wasted years. I will use these as a basis for change. To ensure I follow through and stay motivated I will document progress and set goals. I will split these into ‘motivators’ and ‘demotivators’.

Demotivators:

Study – I hated school. My only achievement was lowest attendance in my final year or the longest time on both discipline and academic report cards. I just did enough to pass exams and no more. The problem was I wasn’t interested in what I was studying. I have therefore decided to find subjects of interest and to attempt good grades. I will take on a new course on my move to Thailand.

Alcohol – Some of my favourite memories are from my early drinking years with my mates down the woods or along the coast with a few beers / bottle of cider. This became a regular occurrence and before long we were out of control. I now abuse alcohol out of boredom and possibly have a dependence on it. I think alcohol and boredom come hand in hand in my life and I intend to control this by taking up other hobbies.

Motivators:

Fitness – Now I am unfit and overweight. I am probably getting to the point of no return – another reason why I am doing this experiment. While there is a gym and pool at my condo I find it hard to get motivated for the gym. I will however force myself to the gym some mornings and go for a swim. While this sounds lazy and half assed my real intention is to get fit through sports. The condo has tennis courts which I may have a crack at.

Sport – I was never a team player. I never played football, rugby, hockey etc. I can think of two sports which I did love in my early years. The first was badminton and I plan to start playing again in Thailand. Luckily my girlfriend plays and is constantly on the lookout for an opponent to play with. I consider skateboarding to be my vocation. I was obsessed with it. The problem is it will be hard to take up again after losing my strength through laziness and balance through alcohol. This is therefore the goal I need. By controlling my alcohol and going to the gym I can get back into shape to skateboard. While I am closing in on 30 my idol from my skateboarding days Rodney Mullen is still in the game aged 44.

Music – I lost interest in music during my teens. My mates were all DJ’s and listened to hardcore / happy hardcore constantly. This meant I also listened to hardcore. More or less hardcore is s**t music sped up and given a bass line. This evolved to hard house which is no better. I therefore plan to start playing with music again, working with different genres, DJing and possibly attempt to produce a tune or 2.

Travel – I will be doing this through my random track game.

Gaming – I will also get awesome at xbox.