I really enjoy catching fish, but I don’t necessarily enjoy everything associated with fishing. For instance I don’t like to wake up early, and when I have to wake up early I end up having a hard time falling asleep because I’m stressed that I won’t wake up on time. I don’t care for long car rides. I especially don’t like doing those two things only to discover that the fish aren’t biting. Because of this I’ve always wanted to own a pond and / or have a cottage along a river. But the pond appeals to me the most because you can prevent people from fishing in it and thus it’s something like farming in that you can fertilize your pond, curate your species, etc.
Turning 40 definitely hit me in terms of the mid-life crisis, but what really hits home is that when it comes to my kids my oldest is at his kid mid-life now. If I didn’t get moving he’d be on his own and I wouldn’t have the opportunity to enjoy my pond and property with him for very long.
So I pulled the trigger and we now have a property with a pond and a mixture of forest and pasture. We bought some Segway electric dirt bikes from Joltbike.com and we’re having a blast riding those around. The pond needs work but I think it will be even more satisfying knowing that the choices and investments I made turned the pond into a nice fishery (and hopefully a nice place to swim).
I feel very fortunate to have the resources to make this part of my dream come true, and I also feel fortunate for my wife pointing out that the kids won’t be around forever. Even though I’ve always known that her saying it made it hit home.
In terms of my own mid-life crisis I’ve been working out with a trainer for nearly 2 years now. It would be cool to get all muscled up and jacked but that’s not the goal. I want to extend my ability to play basketball for as long as possible in the short term and in the long term I want to be a viable physical being for as long as possible. Thinking long term so that I can have a grand kids mid-life crisis too.