My take on everyday life and bowhunting...LONG!

[goatranch]

I have been thinking about this for a looooong time now and I will post my ideas and see what happens.

This is my second year of missing our bow opener due to things beyond my control. Family, work, truck repairs...good old everyday life fun stuff. Usually I get mad about it. Frustrated is more accurate. I work all year long and for just a small amount of time each year I want to have the time to bow hunt. Simple enough. But other things demand our attention as well.

Two weeks ago my wife litterally almost died. This week I am dealing with problems at work that must be figured out to keep money coming in. Just today the brakes on my truck need replaced. Whew! Will I ever get to bow hunt?

We have priorities in our life that are important and we are responsible for. I have to say that after getting mad about this AND getting over it...I am not mad nor frustrated as I was. This is a good thing. It doesn't make matters any better, just that I am dealing with them better. I'm sure some will differ with me on this saying, "I don't care WHAT happens I am going HUNTING!" thats what I said.

I believe there is a balance in our lives that if not maintained will cause us much anger and stress needlesly.

The bottom line for me is I WILL get to bow hunt, I just have a few things to do first. I know I am not the only one in this boat. For any others that go through this dilema, take comfort in what I am going through. Its not easy, its not fun, but it WILL pass and things WILL get better. I am proof of that.

What I should focus on is my wife did NOT die and I still have her with me. Thank God. I have a job to bring in money. Thank God. I would have some REAL SERIOUS problems if I lost my wife, no job, no friends for support, no help at work, no money. Or worse. I need to focus on what I do have and NOT what I don't. For me it is a matter of gratitude.

I am still learning about my self and life...the hard way most of the time. the hard lessons learned are usually the ones you never forget.

Maybe I am rambling for myself. Maybe it can help someone else. I hope so. that is all.

[DRT]

I can dig it. Before my wife & kid came into my life i quite work on Sep. 25 and Not look for a job till Feb.1 did this for about 5 years in row. Even when i get frustrated at home with the wife and the baby is crying i ask my self what the heck am i doing? I had it made and i gave it up for this. But then i come back to my senses when my daughter starts laughing at the deer heads on the wall and playing with my release. I think when you start thinking the way your are talkng below that means we are becomeing more seasoned so to speak. Anyways you know & i know that if a buck does make the mistake of comeing in close range his butt belongs to you!!!! :shade:

[goatranch]

Thanks for that man.

It will make me a better hunter because I will make more of the time afield when I do go. I have always lacked in that area.:)

[Obsession]

Too often we focus on the negativity going on in our lives and not enough on the positives. I have learned over the past year or so to start changing my ways of thinking. If there is something you really want to get done or go to..make it happen, tell yourself it will happen and set that time to do it anyways. I have rough days around here when my kids are driving me crazy or daycare kid and their parents are driving me crazy but then I sit back and think...thank God for my family, thank God buisness is so good for me. Last week I wanted so badly to go outside after work and put up some Fall decorations with my youngest daughter but when I got done with work I looked atthe inside of my house and went...how can I possibly got out there hen I have so much cleaning to do in here thanks to my job?? I looked at my kids face and said lets go out anyways...had a great time with her out there and yeah I had much to do until late night picking up inside but it was worth it. I realized I got done what I really wanted to do and I made myself and my daughter happy.

Life is a tricky thing, never know when our last days here will be. Serious issues happen to prevent us from doing things we would rather be doing and by no means am I no bible thumper but I have my beliefs and the ways I was taught, I believe in good, I believe in evil, I feel evil wil always try to intervene hen it comes to what makes us happy...just when everything is going well, we let our guard down and evils creeps in to pull away our happiness. I know this has happened with myself on many occasions in my life and now I get mad when something is going good and evil tries to take aways my happiness...I fight back by doing exactly what it was I wanted to be doing, no matter how many tries, no matter how many milestones I have to overcome to get there...you eventually get there if you don't give up.

Don't let anything in life wear you down, there really is time for everything it is you want to do if you make it happen...take that boat ride, spend the day with your kids, go for a swim, lay out in the sun, take that walk with your loved one, go fishing, go hunting and have no regrets....live life and enjoy it as much as you can, were only here for so long.

[IGluIt4U]

Goat.. be thankful, as you said, for all the good things. Hunting is but a passtime, although we can justify it in many ways, there are many far more important areas in our lives every day. Once a family comes into the picture, it changes even more. I have not been out in the deer woods here yet, and the season opened last month on the 15th. Too many other, more important things to get done, so that when I do finally get out, I can enjoy it and not feel guilty because I blew off something to go hunting, that in reality, was more important in the long run. (and I'm single!! :lol: :noidea: :wink:)

You're right too.. just when you think it can't be worse, something happens to prove otherwise. We gain strength from our accomplishments, and those that have had to overcome great adversities will benefit in the long run for successfully navigating their way thru them... :thumb: :cheers:

Hope all is well with your wife.. our prayers to the both of you... :amen: :wink:

[bigbuckdn]

Thats why I am here now and not in the woods I never thought I would ever say this but I just had a few things that were more important than hunting today and it is a long season

[ishootahoyt]

This is a great thread. I too often think about life and its challenges daily, I am a "thinker" and have a tendency to over analyze a lot of stuff but that's what I do. The great thing about hunting is it allows me to isolate myself with GOD and have great conversations. 99% of my hunts end with me not killing anything and I am ok with that because it usually what I learn from that time in the woods or on the lake that is most beneficial to me. So to all of us that wake up and are faced with a bumpy road, let us begin by being thankful that we at least woke up and are able to face that road. Now get ya mind right and give it hell!!!!!

[azone5]

You are right that we need to count our blessings and have our priorities right. Negativity really brings you and others down. The positives are much more important than the other stuff. We can feed ourselves positive, constructive thoughts, or we can construct huge problems for ourselves by devoting too much time to them. Maintain a balance, but be realistic. Some days you will face more of life's struggles than others. Be thankful you have your wife and that you are dealing with things the right way.

[Rack Tracker]

Goat,

I know of what you speak. When i had started a new job here in CA. and we had our second daughter, and we we struggling with cash flow, I too wrote off hunting. I actually resented my father and uncle taking 8 weekends in the fall to go afield while I did my 50 hours a week in town, then fixed broken fences and equipment on the ranch and checked on the cows who were calving at that very time.

What it resulted in was a mind set that I was going to set my priorities and not focus on what I was missing out on. Before I had gone hunting anyway, and not enjoyed myself because of the guilt hanging over my head that I really should be doing stuff at home. It made me a better hunter when I got my "chores" done and could focus more on the task at hand. Even though I had fewer opportunities they were quality opportunities.

It took about 6 years before I had things in shape so that my wife could manage things while I was gone. That meant gates that swing and good fences for the cows, less dependance on mechanical devices like tractors that were prone to break. It took the sacrifice of missing our local 8 week season so I could spend a week away out of state hunting.

What ever you do don't regret decisions you have made. "Yesterday is history" Look to the future to see how you can streamline operations and do preventative maintainance. When the chance comes to grab your bow and head afield, the feeling of confidence that everything will be allright at home, and you will be able to fix anything gone awry is almost as great a feeling as when you arrow that buck.

Good luck and keep your chin up!