What's the best thing you've ever done?

[Flybhoy]

16 hours ago, tongue_tied_danny said:

It gives me the self confidence to text women at 3am.

[Sergeant Wilson]

The Lord's work.

[Florentine_Pogen]

30 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

The Lord's work.

https://www.macsas.org.uk/MACSAS News Archive2.html

[Sergeant Wilson]

31 minutes ago, Florentine_Pogen said:

https://www.macsas.org.uk/MACSAS News Archive2.html

God moves in mysterious ways 

[Florentine_Pogen]

16 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

God moves in mysterious ways 

He serpently does ............

[HoBNob]

On 17/06/2023 at 11:34, welshbairn said:

Probably looking after my parents when they got too old to look after themselves, was getting a bit depressed that I was struggling to think of anything tbh..

That in itself is absolutely lovely WB, they'll be other stuff aswell, sometimes it's just hard to remember all the achievements. 

[Busta Nut]

On 16/06/2023 at 23:22, Richey Edwards said:

We already have a "worst thing you have ever done" thread. However, the past is not a big stick to beat yourself up with. Every experience you have ever had has made you who you are. Let's focus on the positive things we have done in our lives.

 

I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that the best thing I have ever done was stop drinking alcohol. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with alcohol - I am just someone who is incapable of drinking alcohol socially or in moderation. I am an alcoholic and could never stop whenever I started. I had plenty of "black-outs" and "brown-outs".

Eventually I hated what I had become. I was a pathetic and bitter person. I had a dead-end job that I hated and complained about constantly, but had no drive or ambition to do anything about it except numb myself with alcohol. My behaviours had caused relationships to end, friendships to end, and immeasurable pain, disappointment and worry to people who cared about me. I was someone who could not be trusted to behave responsibly and found myself not invited to events because of that. 

The event that served as the catalyst for change occurred in February 2017. I was wandering the streets after being ejected from a venue for being wasted, and ended up falling asleep in a bus shelter. Absolutely anything could have happened to me. I could have died in a variety of ways. 

There is a point that people reach which is talked about in the recovery community - the point were you realise that you cannot do this anymore. This was mine.

Anyway, I attended some local AA meetings but after a while decided that their programme was not for me and basically went my own way.

Gradually good things started happening to me. I got a new job. People started wanting to spend time with me. I passed my driving test at the first attempt. I FINALLY got accepted into university after applying thinking "why not?". I am now one year of study away from doing what I always wanted to do when I was younger.

Has my life magically become perfect just because I stopped drinking alcohol? No, it hasn't. I still have bad days and adversity to face. However, I am better equipped to deal with life and have become someone people are proud of, and that I am proud of.

Anyway, this has been a long-winded way of telling you the best thing I have done is stopping drinking. I will shut up now. If you read this far then thank you for reading. 

What age are you? If you don't mind me asking.

[Richey Edwards]

5 hours ago, Busta Nut said:

What age are you? If you don't mind me asking.

32.

[Mark Connolly]

A lot of genuinely guid c***s on this board

[Willie adie]

Give blood 

[Shipa]

4 hours ago, Willie adie said:

Give blood 

I really need to man up and do this.

I've hidden behind excuses, "been to malarial country, they won't want me" or "Ha Ha it'll be ABV positive" or "I work shifts, it's not easy"

End of the day, if you're prepared to accept blood in your treatment, as we all might be in an emergency, then we should, if we can, do so.

[Raidernation]

1. Give up a career in engineering to become a teacher.

2. Come to ‘murca. Ok my wife died before we had 3 years married, but my middle stepdaughter is my best friend ever and I’m now teaching at the best school I’ve ever worked at.

Also, I’d probably be dead due to alcoholism if I hadn’t moved here and had reasons to quit.

[Central Belt Caley]

11 hours ago, Shipa said:

I really need to man up and do this.

I've hidden behind excuses, "been to malarial country, they won't want me" or "Ha Ha it'll be ABV positive" or "I work shifts, it's not easy"

End of the day, if you're prepared to accept blood in your treatment, as we all might be in an emergency, then we should, if we can, do so.

This is actually something I really want to do as my parents used to do it a lot. Anytime I think of it though I get the fear and my body goes all cold. Should really try to conquer the fear of doing it 

[scottsdad]

Three things come to mind for me. 21 years ago I met my wife. I was seeing my best mate's sister-in-law at the time, and broke it off with her to pursue the missus. At the time nobody was happy with me. I lost friends (who had planned out this future for me with the other girl). My parents could not understand why I left a nice enough girl for a divorcee with two kids who was a couple of years older than me. But I just knew that she was the one for me. And in the process I gained two step-daughters who have now grown up. Spent all day Saturday with one, and she gave me a lovely Father's Day card; came home and the other one had sent me a gift via Amazon. And of course, our own two followed and I spent most of Sunday building a shed with my son, who is off to uni in September. Do I regret that choice I made, and the friends I lost? Not for a second. 

Second, like many folk on here, was changing jobs. In 2013 I was in a job that had a wonderful job title and from the outside looked like an amazing job. But I hated it, and I was bored. I applied for a lectureship, got it and this really is the job for me. I actually have a job that can make a difference in people's lives. I posted before about this, but a few weeks ago I managed to get a guy to graduate when the Chair of the exam board had decided that he was to resit a course. A full year extra at uni to sit an exam he missed through no fault of his own, graduating next year in a room full of strangers, and losing job opportunities now. Took me a full day, and arguing the finer points of some obscure uni policies to win my point, and yesterday he graduated at the ceremony with all his friends and is off into the world with his (hard-won) degree.

Finally, 26th March, the last day I saw my dad when he was terribly ill. He died the next day. All I'll say is, we left nothing unsaid. My last words to him were that I loved him.

[Oscar P]

1 hour ago, Central Belt Caley said:

This is actually something I really want to do as my parents used to do it a lot. Anytime I think of it though I get the fear and my body goes all cold. Should really try to conquer the fear of doing it 

I got shamed into doing it by a mate who has donated over 100 times.

My 4th appointment is booked for next week.

You even get a braw wee badge on your 2nd donation 

 

[microdave]

On 17/06/2023 at 11:34, welshbairn said:

Probably looking after my parents when they got too old to look after themselves, was getting a bit depressed that I was struggling to think of anything tbh..

I've been looking after my Mum since she had a stroke during lockdown and it's hard going so doing so for both parents is tremendous.

Edited June 20, 2023 by microdave

[welshbairn]

10 minutes ago, microdave said:

I've been looking after my Mum since she had a stroke during lockdown and it's hard going so doing so for both parents is tremendous.

Sadly mine have both gone now, but yes, it was full on, especially with my Dad's Alzheimer's. I had sisters who used to come up and give me a break quite regularly though, don't think I could have coped without that. Hope you're getting some kind of respite care anyway..

[RiffRaff]

18 hours ago, Willie adie said:

Give blood 

I gave blood as often as I could, think I managed about 50 donations, and then I was disgnosed a Type 1 Diabetic and haven't been able to give blood since.

Mind you when I was a student in Edinburgh there was the promise of a half pint of Guiness that you received instead of juice.

[microdave]

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

Sadly mine have both gone now, but yes, it was full on, especially with my Dad's Alzheimer's. I had sisters who used to come up and give me a break quite regularly though, don't think I could have coped without that. Hope you're getting some kind of respite care anyway..

My only regular respite is going to work and the football when it's on. My sister-in-law sometimes fills but that means I have to walk up a fucking mountain with my brother and nephew. I've also got another brother who's going to look after her next week so I can got to a gig. 

I've made that sound a bit worse than it actually is. She doesn't need a lot of help but she does need it every single day. It can be wearisome having to run her life(because she's lazy and has a great excuse for not doing stuff) and trying to still have one myself.

[Bert Raccoon]

Hard to say but running a 10k (in under an hour but I don't like to brag) and raising a fair bit of money for Mental Health UK which is a charity which means a lot to me, including a fair amount donated by the good people from here. I broke my heel in 2017 and really stopped me being as active as I was previously so was happy I managed to do the 10k.