That one moment of clarity

“Ever have one? When you know you will be walking away from the opportunity of a life time? When you have weighed your priorities, and chosen to pass up doing something so amazing that it could possibly change your life? When you put your family before yourself?”

“Yes--and I've gone both ways at different times. Will say, "opportunities of a lifetime" seem to continue to knock at my door, but those I love are more than "opportunities"-that said, I've also learned that sometimes it's ok and even necessary to "put yourself first" Often a tough call. Says something about you that you were even willing to wrestle with it and not just do whatever the hell you wanted”

“I frequently don't just say or do what ever I want because if I did I would be the biggest trail bum you've never heard of.
This one is a bit bigger than most of the things I am used to doing though.”

“... and ...”

“I still haven't decided for sure.”

“Yes. Usually happens after takeing some.....pills.”

“I once was offered the chance to go up in the Goodyear Blimp. The guy who was the pilot was staying at the hotel I worked at. He asked if I and one of the other people I worked with wanted to go up in the Blimp that day. I was on the clock and didn’t want to loose my job so I didn’t go. Now I wish I would have gone. Hind site is 20/20.”

“oh, you can't leave me hanging MG.”

“mg, are you bailing on colorado?”

“well is that like when you come up with a great come back but not till later and the moment is gone?”

“When you have weighed your priorities, and chosen to pass up doing something so amazing that it could possibly change your life? When you put your family before yourself?

If it's something that you view as needing to put family first then it sounds like taking the plunge will cost your family. I'd hate to think you may look back on your life and realize the true opportunity of a lifetime was family.

Backpacking is something we do, not what we are.”

“mean..I know the feeling, I have passed up promotions (usually turned out to be a good choice).

What you need to answer is
1. Are you not taking it for a reason? I mean will you later come back and say,'I would have taken that job except for....."

2. Is this something you would want to do for life? (I passed up a battalion promotion to stay a captain...and I am SO glad I did).

3. Remember the first law of "life" you are not good to anyone else unless you are okay. You know if a family member is really sick...would it be worth working yourself to death to help them?

Good luck...and my email is on my profile.”

“I hope you are not coming to TT for a real life answer.”

“In 2005 I was hoping to get a specific job I had been keeping an eye on, but it seemed things would never work out like I hoped,so at the same time I decided to hike the A.T.in 2006.
Well wouldn't you know after I planned out my trip, had everything ready, I received word that the job I wanted was open and the guy in charge wanted to see me. So what do I do?
To make a long story short, I talked with him and explained about my dream to hike the AT. He fully understood, thanked me for being honest about it and wished me luck. He even read my trail journal while I was hiking.
I missed out on the job, but I know I made the right choice.”

“MG, i had a similar choice recently. I made the choice that is by far the hardest on my family and on the surface would be very selfish for me to do. I still believe it was the right choice, only time will tell. Sometimes there is no black or white.

A very good friend of mine went through a similar deal a year ago. He was debating the merits of doing security work in Iraq. He is divorced with a child (she had primary custody). He ended up not going back. We had some very interesting discussions about the options.

All in all these things are tough. I wish you the best in finding the answer.”

“Yep meangreen. About once a week on average. ;)”

“These moments are usually reserved for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts.”

“What a wide range of responses!
No, I have no chemical dependencies.
Crash... I dunno.

What I can say is that I am flying into PHX on the 8th of March and wont be home until the 17th. And I will see very few people in between those dates. That should be enough to get Crash wound up. LOL!

I don't think anyone will really miss out on anything due to this little adventure, so why watch an opportunity go by? GRAB IT!”

“So I guess you're not going on the LBL trip, huh?”

“you got mail.”

“you going to the grand canyon in march?”

“It matters very little what the rest of might say about whether or not you should do something. In your heart you know what the right choice is. You are the one that owns the consequences.”