I noticed today how fast the last few months had gone since the summertime as the time has passed by in hardly a breath. I remember growing up how all of the old people used to say about time speeding up as you got older but like any good teenager I ignored everything that they said as nostalgia and senility. Which was also not entirely wrong. Woops.
I am still not old in terms of my life but i am sure to some of the kids that they now see me as one of those old people talking of past glories and better times. We might have all turned into semi-responsible adults from my group by now but we still tend to talk more about college parties and great holidays than we ever have about current affairs and terrible young people so hopefully we are not too far gone down the path of life.
{Me my best mate and an All-Ireland trophy as a glass}
There is still time to add some more stories to that list before heading for my rocking chair and regaling my grandchildren about a better time where people looked out for each other and you could buy sweets for a penny. ( Obviously by then they will think of a penny in the same way as the current generation think of rotary phones or I think of travelling in a horse and cart as they pay for everything digitally through their implants...... Or something like that.)
What I have noticed for myself is a change in perspective even over just the past few years. In my late 20's I was still fully committed to having as much fun as possible regardless of consequences and geared my life towards enjoying it fully. And i stand by that as for me it wouldn't have been possible to settle down with a wife, 2 kids and a house by 25 as I would never have been happy with it. My mindset wasn't geared towards that kind of existence and while it suits some people it was just not for me. No matter that i had plenty of opportunities or that some of my friends were heading towards that it just wasn't in my mentality.
I lived for the weekend away, holidays, trips with the group. Random pub sessions on a Tuesday. I loved nothing more than meeting up with friends and ending up in random places on random days. There was nothing better in life than those crazy parties and bad decisions. I still do like to do it once in a while but the difference to then is that I was never looking farther ahead than the next thing to do or the next fun time.
I regret nothing.
None of it.
Even the bad nights and the wrong calls. Some people spend their lives worrying about the missed chances and the wrong choices but for me there is always another one around the corner. Life is fluid and every choice leads to another choice soon after so it's always possible to come full circle. I'm always glad of the places that i have ended up as for me there is no worse thought than of ending up in a care home at 90 looking back at all of the things that you didn't do. It might have been a long life but if you did nothing with that time then was it not all pointless???
So what has changed in my perspective now?
Well it's only a small thing but one with huge ramifications. I'm looking forward in years rather than days. Now that I've pushed into my 30's I am thinking about where would i like to be in the next 5 years rather than next month and so my choices will obviously reflect that. I've thoroughly enjoyed the past experiences that i've gone through but looking forward have started to make different choices. Ones which will aid in the long term plan rather than week to week.
I wouldn't have been able to do this even a couple of years ago until I had finally gotten all of the other stuff out of my system but eventually you change your plan and your mindset. Now that those have changed my choices have too.
I see it in STEEM every day from some people with the instant mindset of wanting everything to be perfect right now to those who are looking 5 years down the line. You can see how both sets approach a problem in such different ways as they don't have the same outcome in mind. Neither is wrong depending on what you want to get from your journey here, so it depends on what you are looking for. A quick high or a sustainable future. Everybody is different so it just remains to be seen if the people looking for that quick high will look back in regret at the opportunities being offered as early adopters or just take it at face value.
I might have taken the excitement in real life but there is no way in hell im going to do the same with my STEEM instead of building for the future. This is definitely one i would regret if I left now for pennies and saw the blockchain fill it's potential down the line.