All in
I used to think that I had a hoarding problem of sorts. I'm really bad about collecting things sometimes. I first noticed this with NASCAR, and realized it's with pretty much anything I touch/experience
Working out. Back when I was 13 shit went sideways in a scuffle with .. I can't resist... two racists (true .. of course never used that term back then)... and I came out on the losing end. Hey .. I was freshman and they were seniors. My excuse and I'm sticking with it. On the upside I began taking marital arts and lifting weights. Lets just say . it was the last time I ever came out on the wrong side of a fist fight. As every year went by, I spent more time in the gym. I probably peaked at about 23 to 28 age time frame, but still continued to work out hours a day until my 30s. Around 40, I slowed down but wasn't until about 50 that .. it was on the back burner in the big picture. I still work out, but .. .not enough. I've got a commercial quality gym in one of my buildings... but... damned equipment (a LOT of equipment) keeps gathering dust... grrrr. Point being, I'd become obsessed with my physical fitness, and everything surrounding it. Damned, wish I still was....
NASCAR for me kicked off around '06. After that first 4 days at the races, I was completely hooked by it all. Two years in I'd bought an RV for those trips to Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). Then a bigger RV. Then a better RV. Along the way became a season ticket holder. Visited multiple tracks over the years. Acquired a stupid amount of die cast cars with my driver's number. And shirts and hats. Got a lil crazy..... then several years ago... we moved on (but still have all that stuff). I think we went through SIX RV Trailers over a 17 span ..... Bigger and Better, each time. First was 23' long, last one was 43'.
Bike Rallies. Went to a few, nothing too crazy until around '06 when I experienced Republic of Texas (ROT) down in Austin. Next six to seven years we'd go and it was AWESOME. Then Sturgis for 4 times total. Lone Star Rally (LSR) in Galveston for over ten years straight. Bikes Blues and BBQ year after year. Daytona several times, finally, slowing down a lil after Daytona Bike Week last year. Yep .. shirts.... lots of shirts! And patches.. even a 75th Anniversary gold plated rifle. I might have gone overboard a notch. But ... those memories!
Guns ... except purchasing a .22 and my grandfathers 30.06 and 12 gauge, never really got the bug. Then at a gun show two decades ago grabbed a 9mm, but sold that a few years later. Then, I went off the rails. My neighbor sold me an AR15 that was brand new, never shot. Then ...another handgun .. then... well, lets just say completely off the rails. Had it not been for them going down in that Boat Accident, it'd be a helluva discussion to have?
Jeeps. I've always owned one it seems since '86 (CJ7) minus a few years in between while overseas. I tried to take one to Panama, but .. didn't try hard enough. Soon as I got back, bought the one from my Sis n Law and the rest his history. After that CJ5... another CJ5, multiple TJs, then a JK for Galveston that my daughter now drives .. then a JKU (4 door) and another and another. Since '17 they've all been Rubicon models (loaded!). Since '14 my SUVs (travel vehicles )have all been Jeeps . I'm completely off the charts with the Jeep brand.
Motorcycles. I've wrote about this one before. Always seemed to have one since my early 20s, but around the age of 49 I went off the deep end. Sold my Vulcan 1500 to a friend in '09 and got my first Indian. Then a Big Dog Chopper. Then a Harley Davidson. Then a Gilroy era Indian... and another .. and another. Except since '09, I quit selling them (well, sold one of them to a close friend in CO; Rocket III). To say I'm off the rails with bikes is an understatement. The last one I acquired is a 600HP trike .. .just because. I'm in for the long haul!
My latest object of impulse is .... knives. I've bought a few here and there over the years, slowly filling up a drawer, but then ... I discovered a couple of sites with some great deals, lots of sales, lots of variety. Since then I cringe every time I get one of their emails because I open it and think "ooooooooooohhhh.... look at that one!" and ... do it again. I've run out of drawers.
Motorcycle Riding Groups. And what prompted me to make this post. Back in '11 I joined the Iron Indians (IIRA), and by '14 I was pushing harder with them, focused on it all. Every year we'd go to a centralized location for an annual reunion. I'd started my own chapter. I was all in and had even bumped heads with a few people over it all with a lot of BS arguing and watched friendships go by the wayside over some crap. I'm still a member but not as active .. because.. in '18 I joined the Combat Vets (CVMA). I soon found myself more and more into it. The closet filling up with shirts and hats. Stickers for anything and everything. Searching for official CVMA events to attend, reasons to ride with that vest on every day. It's reignited my military roots. Yep ... ALL IN .. and ... that's putting it mildly.
Vacations. Well, I don't really call them vacations. Lets call them my .... Remote Office? I honestly have never taken a day off work (officially) since 2006. And probably not much in those previous years. I ALWAYS check my email. ALWAYS have my cell. ALWAYS thinking about work. Is that healthy? Probably not. Nurse pointed that out to me in '20 while in the hospital. Whoops? I haven't truly disconnected from work since the 90s when I was in the military (30 days leave and no cell phones!) and that didn't count the last five years before I retired when I was a workaholic at the Det. Problem is ... when I realized after '06 that "All Inclusives" existed I was hooked. I was hooked on trying to find deals. Sales on airfares.... certain weeks at diff' resorts. One year we went to Mexico five times and upon return I found some killer flight options ($99 R/T each) and my wife literally begged me to stop! Hell, I think we did five trips last year south of the border, and we are headed back in a few months. BUT ... may be time to pull back a notch.
So, I used to think I was a hoarder... because I'm a messy person and all the crap piles up. The real problem is I go ALL IN when I do shit. It's in my personality. I suppose there's a term that psychologist use. After typing that ... I decided to 'look it up' .. I think I've come up with a good explanation..... I'll go with this one
obdurateness
As I type this I'm looking up at the book case in my Office with NASCAR crap still on the top shelf. Half a dozen knives on one corner. Self Help CDs (Tony Robbins) that I used to be into twenty + years ago, reading book after book after book! Listening to CD after CDs from various successful folks. On the book shelf to my left is two groups of challenge coins (50+). Over in the corner is a stupid count of bottles of Bourbon.. .Scotch .. Tequilas that I've bought and will most likely never drink in my lifetime.
What got me to thinking about all this? Well, sometimes you have to park it.... take a break. Get some perspective. And that's what I was thinking about this morning. A group I hang with and I've been "all in" with for some time, I hit a bump in the road and it's allowed me to step back a notch. Think things through. Reevaluate where I'm headed and why. I'll jump back into the fray in a few months but .. it's allowed me to look at things from another angle. Maybe pull back a notch in the future. Refocus on other things that may be more important.
Sometimes... All In isn't always a good thing.
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Scalper