Triumphrat

Whisperinsmith · 11-17-2007

My life's shadows are no longer chasing time down the walls; they are rising up toward the heavens. Seems time is disappearing at a rate I'd rather not think about.

So what do you more mature guys do to keep time at bay?

I try to fill up each day with something special, either a ride or work on a painting, or seek out conversation. But I admit, I find myself alone too much contemplating this very issue that I'm trying to escape.

Any ideas?

And by the way, for those who are not at this stage yet, don't think it won't happen to you. You'd better heed my little signature and fill your life up while you can.

PS My apologizes to the moderator for the Big Jim story.

ggRAT · 11-17-2007

I spend too darm much time on this forum for one thing! My job as an IT professional allows me to work from home, so likely I'll die with my head on a keyboard.

Bonafide · 11-17-2007

same as always, chase women.

TriumphTengu · 11-17-2007

You should try do to things that make you happy. Seeing someone you haven't seen in a while is important. Tell your family you love them.
Now for me, playing the guitar everyday would be nice, listening to music doesn't happen as much, because I've been riding a bike more than driving.
Seeing some live music would be good. Haven't seen a movie in a couple of months. Did rent "Long Way Round" last night and watch about 90 mins of it.
Pretty cool. Am riding out to some dirt roads out by Marble Falls Sunday.
Have joined the Austin RAT and we're trying to schedual a couple more rides
b4 the end of the year, out towards "the three sisters" (the mecca of bike riding around central Texas).
Now I haven't brewed any beer lately. My wife and I are flying out to Fort Lauderdale to the Monkeyball in January, then taking a NCL cruise down to the Western Carribean. It's the Radiators Krews. Get to see the New Orleans Radiators six times in eight days. And they won't repeat one song.
Started planning our motorcycle trip up to the Brickyard Moto GP in September next year (have already got our passes!). Life is good.

just_phil · 11-17-2007

I like your motto WS, and 'though I'm still in my early forties I had a bit of a wake up call (of sorts) and thought then it might be a good idea to start the rest of my life the very next day, so to speak. Getting back on a bike was part of that process.

I think that being able to create, make or repair stuff can help. 'Creating' happens in many forms; for example painting, or playing a musical instrument; these help us to either "freeze" or re-live a particular moment, place or time in our lives. Gardening or cooking could be seen as helping us to appreciate the need for time to move along. Repairing things helps, in a way, for us to turn the clock back and restore something to working order or former beauty. And of course, any of these achievements attaches a value to the time we have spent on them.

Also, I find that varying ones company and having different groups of friends can help to take us out of ourselves and keep our sense of perspective. After all, we are all getting older together ?

I suppose what I am trying to say is "Do Stuff", "Stay Busy". Sometimes we will get things wrong: so? We still grow and learn as we do so. Reading and TV are OK of course, in moderation, we can learn from both, but I just think it's better to create our own images and experiences when we can.

I don't think we are ever "the finished article". Although I think it's high time this little article of mine got finished !!!

bovefrankj · 11-17-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonafide

same as always, chase women.

Seems those worth chasing all run faster than me.

mistermellow001 · 11-17-2007

Whisper, at some point in my life it occurred to me that I couldn't reasonably expect to repeat the span of my existence, i.e., live as long into the future as I had lived thus far. At 30 it was easy to say I could live to 60. At 40, same math. Now, at 52, I suppose it could happen, but now that I've learned my 56 year old brother is dying, well forget it - it's no longer realistic, and in fact it seems preposterous for me to indulge in probabilities.

When I first read the title of your post I thought you were asking what we did for a living (or retirement, but what a silly question, we all know what TBA does with his free time, bless his divots). What I do for work would have been a much easier question to answer. What I do to add days to my days, and divert my attention from the inevitable, is a more difficult one.

Let me start by first saying that riding across the country to Bennington is, in a way, an attempt to answer the question. An irony of my life is that when I was younger I didn't feel the need to fill my days, but did. Flip that around and you've pegged me now. At least for now, I'm reserving a part of each day for joyful anticipation of my trip. (It's obvious, by now, that your "thought" that led to this event is having a similar affect on others.)

If I may refer to "Bonniegirl's 7-year cycle" as an affliction that can be crippling if not treated, then I have ignored at least the last two outbreaks. When I divorced (in 2002, after a 12-year marriage) one of the most common bits of advice given to me was to move on, do something different, start anew. I didn't. I continued to work at a job that consumes my days, often my weekends, sometimes my holidays, and way too often my thoughts. It was a welcome diversion for me at the time, but now it's, well, I needn't go into that.

Back to Bennington. I apologize for this lengthy non-answer, but I believe that, for me, the key to keeping time at bay is to keep hope alive, to create something to look forward to, and to take joyful steps toward it. Bennington is a reminder to feed the forward-looking part of my soul. I'm not so delusional as to believe that planning for this trip is a panacea, but doing so has splashed a bit of water in my face. I've replaced some floor joists in my poor old house, I've been tinkering on my Jag, ordering stuff for my Bonnie, and generally seeing things in a better light, recent hardships and all.

I've got a long way to go to restore balance, which may have to include releasing myself from the golden handcuffs of a government job. But I'm at least looking beyond today, and the good part is that this seems to add days to my life.

brolane · 11-17-2007

WS, I don't thing there is THE answer that would be a panacea for the seemingly endless hours that sometimes face us when we roll out of bed in the morning. I was involved in Masonry and the Shrine prior to my wife's death. Since her death I have become more involved. I work 32 hours a week and have three days to do as I please. If I want a day off to extend my long weekend, I can always work two or three hours per week overtime. My employer doesn't pay overtime, except in emergencies, but you can accumulate compensatory (comp) time very easily.

In july, I bought a second motorcycle, and a day without riding is a day without sunshine. to me, riding is a mental laxative, in that it gets all the stuff out of my head. That way I can look at my other interests, play my guitar on a regular basis, spend a little more time with my two miniature schnauzers. In my actiities, I still get to cook and am always on the lookout for new techniques and recipes.

I have dated some women, but at present, I'm just not looking for a relationship. I was married 40 years to a wonderful woman, no one can replace her, and I guess I don't want anyone sharing my home and life at this point.

I guess the best advice is do what you want to do, do a lot of it and do it with people you care about.

iceman · 11-17-2007

.... I'm late forties WS so am now past the halfway mark.

Still flat out running a business and raising 3 great kids - and keeping my wife happy - so dont have much spare time for such thoughts yet.

One thing we are looking foward to in the next few years is more overseas travel - there are a lot of places in the world we would love to visit.

Why dont you travel south young man? - a visit to Australia and NZ to meet a few of your online mates could be the tonic that you need

Grant

whoa · 11-17-2007

I'm not mature yet, but I'm 51, so it may be time for me to think about it. Either I will or I won't have time to think about shadows and walls down the road. Time will tell I suppose. I'm also in IT and the last 18 months have stayed a hectic pace. It really is time to make a run out to Big Bend, or spend another couple days at the sisters.

Its good to see the RATs meeting in Austin again. Getting together on a weeknight helps bust up the routine of a work week. Having new guys to do weekend rides is a nice idea as well. I'm starting to run and cycle again, since a job at a keyboard and over eating is a deadly combination.

You mentioned painting. I've wanted to do woodworking for some time now, and would like to take on a classic bike project. Assuming I have 20 years or so left, thats enough time to become very good at something I can't do yet. One recent thing I've done is sent a notice to Triumph to bring back a version of Torque, but using contributions from us. Since my photographic skills are low, and writing weak, I figure getting into something like that would be good for me.

Funny, I just notice my ranking on this site says "senior member".