Simplifying My Life

[83ATC185]

Ever felt like you have so much going on that life isn't near as enjoyable as it should be? Between car projects and family trips and work and other things going on, I feel overwhelmed. I have all this stuff i want to do, but don't have the time or money to even consider doing it (but boy am i quick to take it on!)Sounds like life huh? Here close to trikefest, i told myself last year that i would make it this year. Now I'm disappointed in myself, i have all these things i've been doing and got sidetracked, my trikes haven't been touched in 2 months. I feel like i should start trading off all these things i have that become burdens over time for things i get enjoyment out of. Stuff that can easily become a bigger expense than i need or want. Get those cars out of the shop, trade them for a canoe or something:lol:, get rid of all the stuff i don't really need, and drag those trikes out and get back to the simple things i enjoy. Sorry for the rant, I'm just a little down in the dumps, and overwhelmed by stuff I've committed to that i shouldn't have.

Ive got a bad case of the TrikeFest Blues i guess.

[hoosierlogger]

I do the same thing. I need to learn to start telling people no.

[83ATC185]

I've been reading up a lot lately on people that get rid of all of their possessions and just live and enjoy life. I'm not trying to go that far with it. Ive just been thinking i should place more value on personal happiness and fun experiences than feeling "stuck" with all this stuff, feeling like i need to have it all. My girlfriend is really on board with my simplistic living goals and that means a whole lot to me, i don't know a lot of women who look forward to living in a 600sqft house. We don't yet. But that is the long term goal. All the stories I've read of people giving up most or all of the possessions they hold on to start out saying it was the hardest thing to get rid of stuff. But all the couples ended up happier and closer to each other than they were before.

[Frankencelery]

Wow...that's pretty deep for a trike enthusiast board. And especially uncomfortable because many of us are pack rats and/or hoarders.

I've been thinking about this same thing for a while, and wondering where it all ends. I just put a concrete floor in our 30 x 50 pole barn, and while I'm thrilled to have the space to put trikes now (my car has never been in the garage), I can't help but be concerned about the temptation to fill this nice big building chock full of more crap. I don't see myself ever "getting rid of all my possessions", but it does seem like a significant purge is in order. There's that feeling of too many projects that I heard a podcaster refer to as "psychic debt", and I think that explains it nicely.

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[83ATC185]

I'm definitely making an allowance and space for my 3 wheelers and all the parts i can find. Just narrowing down the spectrum of things i take on and get involved in so that i can see real progress happening in what i most enjoy. I promised my girlfriend i would take her riding all summer long. We haven't been one time. and I'm 50 yards from hours of dirt roads and trails. I feel like a letdown, even if she never says it. Had i set my mind on riding with her and not bought yet another car we could've had fun together and enjoyed each others company.

[plastikosmd]

I often do the same thing. I try to just live in the moment. At times the piles can be overwhelming but I know I would not be happier without it. I just focus on one thing at a time. Enjoy the ride

[atc007]

I just put bigger tires and a leveling kit on my truck. I can't stop smiling... What does that have to do with this thread?? Lol,,, Sounds like the main problem here is a disease I suffered from for around 20 years. And now my Son has it till I wanna throw him across the field. TWO letters.... They go uniformly TOGETHER. They are the letter ,,N,,,and O,,,, And they couldn't be happier TOGETHER,as ,, NO< Sorry, can't take that on ...I'm Not being a smart ass. It is SO hard for some of us to say no, but it is a huge necessity to live life happy . One job at a time, chip away at it. No massive job ever got done in a day. All we have to do is get the job started,and before we know it. It's done. Then onto the next..I hope things level out for you.

[83ATC185]

TOGETHER. They are the letter ,,N,,,and O,,,, And they couldn't be happier TOGETHER,as ,, NO< Sorry, can't take that on ...I'm Not being a smart ass. It is SO hard for some of us to say no, but it is a huge necessity to live life happy

You're absolutely right. And yesterday i realized again what kind of trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro it gets me into when i don't. last week i agreed to my sisters idea of taking my dad out to eat for fathers day. It was brought up casually, ya know, hey lets go out to eat with dad next Thursday. I agreed. In my head i pictured us 3 eating at maybe a casual place. Oh no, we ate at the second most expensive place in town and she brought her boyfriend. I wanted to give my dad a nice cordless drill. He's needed one for a while. But now that we've done a 160 dollar meal, it cant happen. And I've agreed on a 3 day beach trip with my family in august and another 4 day 500 mile trip to see family in July and a 4 day 12 hour trip to Illinois in October to see more family. All the while my plans and projects and desires go uncared for.

You're not being a smartass you're being truthful here. My unhappiness starts with me.

Glamy, that is my goal. Don't get into a life we can't pay for. My girl is constantly on my mind with things like this. Its a bad spot to be in, i know people barely working enough to stay afloat, with a kid on the way, then one of them gets laid off and they face losing everything they've worked for. Its sad, but its all too common.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Sometimes i need help stepping back and seeing the big picture.

I think I'll drop everything this weekend and get some tubes and my girlfriend and go on a float trip. The Cahaba is beautiful this time of year.

[83ATC185]

My motivation for not buying too much sh!t was not wanting to work until i drop dead........ i actually paid for the things i own !......the only thing i didn`t count on was health insurance the size of Ferrari payments ! It`s a great subject young man and something everyone has to deal with .......be happy !

Any interest in small living? I'm always looking for ideas and inspiration.

[Scootertrash]

I know what you mean.

I've spent the last 6-7 years working endlessly to cover for the fact that my wife was downsized and laid off repeatedly due to the crappy economy. My Harley never left the neighborhood last year. Peretty f'n sad. AND unacceptable. Fortunately my construction skills and my ability to turn a wrench have kept us afloat, but at the cost of a large majority of home and personal projects being pushed to the wayside: finishing our basement, redoing the tanks and fenders on my Hog, working on my 200X build, the list goes on and on.

I've kept us in our home, we've never missed a payment, and I didn't go crawling to the .gov to bail me out.

I have started saying no. Concrete jobs for friends, family and returning customers only. No more wheelers until my driveway is cleaned off (83 ATC 200, 85 250 ES, 84 200ES or something :P, the wifes 96 Polaris Scrambler, I just redid the brakes in my 200S, building an autoX for the wife, etc)

I did clear a spot for a approx 40 x 80 outbuilding.

Last fall the wife bagged a job with Excel Energy and is back to making what she was making before the crash, and they are paying for about 3/4 of the costs for her to get her Masters. Things are looking up.

It's still gonna take some time to catch up on the projects tho ...........


ETA: As far as health insurance goes most can count on a double digit increase this year too. You'll have to pay the bill to see what's in it tho.

[atc007]

Damn glad to hear she could go back to work Scooter.. That is awesome news :))

[Scootertrash]

Thanks!

It was a lot of work and heartache for her, she decided she wanted to go back to school in 07(?) when she was unemployed, I encouraged it because it never hurts to broaden your horizons. Tried to get a .gov student loan, (not a freebie, a loan) but no go. F'n joke. 35 years in the workforce paying taxes and she can't even get a loan to better herself and get back into the workforce.

Then she had to go thru the "re-eclimbing" of the ladder, since she was basically starting a new career. That was pretty hard for her, talk about a rollercoaster!

Hopefully we can coast for a bit now ;)

[Thorpe]

I had too many turd polishing projects too. That's exactly what I did... Sold them off and focused on my core hobbies a bit more, sold my money trap house and bought a newer one... Trying to learn to relax a little myself! I personally would recommend a kayak vs. a canoe, but that's just what I enjoy. Little bummed, missing my trip to the BWCA with the boys next week on account of moving. Oh well, maybe in Sept. Good luck!

[jays375]

Well a good portion of my motorized collection is gone.Only have one 3 wheeler.Sold off the rest.They were up and running good machines.After a good amount of work on a few.Built one nice trike.Blew the wad you could say.Right now I just want to ride.My Can Am and YFZ have been sitting too.So I bought a big truck to simplify hauling.Getting that sorted out.Sold my old Bonneville.That was a tough one.Put the money to good use.Only problem is now on the hunt for another.This one will just be a nice rider.No full blown restoration.Now have time to enjoy shooting and reloading again.Just not consumed with all the other stuff.Also took up fly fishing again.Never realized how much I missed it.Also even took on. Second job working Saturdays.Which is actually fun.Doing what I do for a living.Except the environment is much better.I know how you feel.Just sit back and decide what you like the best.Or the best one of everything.These days my work area is stagnant.That good smell is still in there though.

[83ATC185]

Well i took Saturday, and went on a 10 hour tubing trip by myself, to have some alone time to think and gather a plan and get myself straight. Next week I'll only be working 1 1/2 days. Much needed time at home. We'll have to see how much stuff i can part with and clean out a corner of the shop and go from there.

I also can't say i endorse going on 10 hour tube trips alone. Thunderstorms come out of nowhere. I will never be on a tube in the river in a storm ever ever again(you can feel the lightning!) and the noise from all the critters on the river gets spooky after it gets dark.

I know that's not the smartest idea but sometimes you just have to have room to breathe. I'm going to keep this updated. It's one of the things helping me out. I know it sounds silly but there's a lot going on in my life and just having a few of the things on my mind typed out for me to read back on helps keep everything in perspective.

[Dirtcrasher]

It's a blessing and a curse.

I have recently been throwing things away (whether anyone thinks I'm crazy or not). I simply cannot control my inventory based on (I might need this) or (this is MINT, I have to hang onto it). I don't need the money but I need the space and the ability to find EVERYTHING. I want my 350X, 200X and a 70 with a 122 motor. It has to end there. I can't keep saving chit "I might need"!! All these NOS parts for trikes I don't own. Stupid.......

[Caminofeld]

It's crazy how things align sometimes. I'm currently dealing with a similar situation where I have accumulated so many projects, honey-do's, need-to-do's, want to do's, and have so many ideas that I'm drowning. On top of that, every project I start or idea I have seems to be derailed by bad luck. I hit my breaking point last night when the used truck I bought for a reliable DD down in VA broke down 2 hours later on 495N and left my family stranded on the shoulder of a busy roadway until 2 AM. Then today I take my dogs to the trainer for the first time and he helps me realize that one of them poses a great safety risk and I need to re-home her. Combine that with a bad lyme flare-up, dwindling support from my fiancé (not that I don't love her, she just has a ton of stressful things on her plate too), having to skip ordered therapy to return to work 6 months prematurely just to pay the bills, losing my ability to do martial arts (my best stress outlet), dealing with an ongoing custody battle, another baby due in a month, etc....needless to say, I'm in the same boat and am also in the process of "trimming the fat" down to a manageable level based on needs not wants. The plan is to do away with quite a bit of the excess, then organize everything else to where everything has a place and purpose. I've also found a great counselor to help me "wade through the muck" of my current situation. Long story short, I feel ya' and hope you can find the motivation and tools to "trim the fat", organize, and regroup. Best of luck and hang in there!

[atc007]

You've had a hard run of luck Camino, hang in there, That which does not kill us only makes us stronger. ..A truer statement was never made.

[El Camexican]

When I read your post it hit home hard. Life is accelerating as mom warned me it would 40 some years ago. As a friend's race car said on the hood scoop "Over the hill and picking up speed!"

What's the solution? Sell it all and live in the bush chopping wood till you die? I swear to God we're all just an energy source to the powers that be like in the Matrix movies, but instead of generating electricity we generate taxes.

The wife's spinster aunt died at 93 a few weeks ago. Saved every penny she ever made and lived with roaches and rats just so she could give it all the nieces and nephews. WTF kind of a life is that?

I don't know any answers, at this pace I'll be dead of exhaustion before anything else gets me, but in saying that what's the point of sitting in a small box bored out of your skull just so you can live a few more years and pay more taxes? Screw that! Bring on the unneeded projects, raise my taxes, add hours to my work day and lets see how much this jack azz can carry before a doctor says he has to stop:lol:

[Billy Golightly]

When someone comes up with a solution let me know...I try not to even think about it or gets overwhelming to me anymore, same deal.

[atc007]

Same here. Just showered from helping build a 40x40 2 story barn for my Sister and Brother in law. Why? Cuz I wanted too. NO END in sight for my own projects,,as in YEARS of work to do. If I wake up tomorrow able, I will be willing.

[83ATC185]

As a wise redneck once said, "you just gotta keep on keepin' on, man". One day at a time is the way to live. I got so caught up in it all that i got impatient. Part of this is that the people around me are interested in what i have going on, it's not a bad thing, but it gets me discouraged when I'm asked every other day how this or that is coming along and they expect progress, but you just don't have the time or money to do anything with it at the moment. But that is life and i shouldn't let others expectations get to me like that, it will make you crazy. I just need a balance between what i need, what i want, and what i have time for, and the let the rest go until i have time for it. It took me 3 months to rebuild that 185 motor. It was bought and assembled one or two pieces at a time. And that's ok, regardless of what the people around me say. Cause that sucker will nearly rip your arm off cranking it and i was so happy to get it done.

Caminofeld sounds like you're having a really rough time. I can't speak on family issues but i know all too well the frustration of buying a car that you really need, that breaks down and having to turn right around and buy something else to get by with. I hope it will be an easy fix and nothing major. :beer

[83ATC185]

Well saturday i pulled out my 200x and 110 and drained the gas in them both and after quite a few kicks i got it started. The 110 was a different story, i forgot about the sticking float so i had to pull the carb off and finally get to rebuilding it. Took them both for a long enough spin to get them cleared out(ok i rode for 2 hours :lol:)I forgot what a fun little bike that 110 is. It also makes me realize i should probably get back on my diet.