Eighth Dimension: #93 Too Much?

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I feel pulled in two directions on this topic. Throughout my life I've been always encouraged by teachers to take up an instrument, take up a sport, do this, do that, it will look good on your CV! Attend this lecture in your own time, Read these books, study this, make time for your own interests, focus on all your work, this way! That way!

It's no wonder most students turn to drinking!

I found out recently one of the pushy things was due to the fact a lecturer got paid for each student that turned up! Whether it was appropriate for the student or not, it's madness.

I used to do a lot of extra curricular things, at one point or another I've done various sports, singing, violin, studying, gymnastics, dance, yes I enjoyed them but often it became an instance that I was guilted horribly when I gave up doing something or refused to take on anything extra. I quit gymnastics after I got as far as I was going to get and I wasn't interested in turning up at weekends to do more training - I had other things to do at the weekend and by then it was evident that my extraordinary flexibility was not healthy. Sports I dropped out of because of social aspects, I was not popular in earlier years and it became hellish, fencing I had to quit when I ended up in a wheelchair. Violin I gave up after both my tutors bullied me so much I couldn't even bear to practice it. Singing stopped after pneumonia. Dance stopped when I was on crutches permanently.

And people always had a go at me for being a quitter - even when I stuck with things to the bitter end.

Over the course of years my interests have had to diversify and evolve with my limitations and capabilities - surely if I was a quitter I wouldn't bother? I'd sit and do nothing (granted I have done my fair share of that, but even then I had my reasons) I look at hobbies with an eye to sustainability nowadays, will I be able to keep going with it? Can it be adapted?

I haven't written about Warhammer in a while, quite frankly I'm simply tired. When I started up the hobby when I was a child I was disappointed as I would never be able to keep up with others in the hobby, it wasn't affordable in our current situation and where I used to paint often faced sabotage (apparently sitting in a garden painting is asking to be taunted by other children and have models broken) When I was able to finance the hobby myself I found another stumbling block - I'd started with Sal, so we could learn the rules, paint and play together. What I didn't bank on was it turning competative and not in the most friendly way. It reached a peak when I got slated behind my back and I was tempted to pack it all in, it was one of the few things I had in my room at uni to keep me going and I wasn't prepared to turn it into a pissing contest.

Nowadays? I don't seem to have the energy, I find it painful handling small models and repeatedly moving my arms back and forth across a battle table is surprisingly tiring. My only opponents are gamers who have been playing the game for longer than I have been alive, most have been managers of GW at one point or another so I often feel behind on knowledge and very behind on skill. I just seem to have so much to do and feel like I have less time to do it in, I'm not sure how it's worked out that way though.