Struggling with life and poker - Page 2

are u sure u just dont want a little more structure to your life? like take up a few hobbies, only play x number of hours a day, make sure u go out with and meet friends. I also agree with stim_abuser maybe some kind of non restrictive volunteering would help. Anyhoo gl.

On April 19 2009 12:25 Balzamon wrote: Not to be an ass, i like you and i am as well a pretty shy boy and have similar thoughts about my life but it really sounds like you got your first girlfriend or something and well thats great, but dont think to deep of it =) it probably wont change your life! girls have this strange habit to make your thoughts go way off in the clouds for a while...

i was thinking the same thing , girls can do that hehe.

gl in your future endeavors, honestly.

I think about the same type of stuff you are talking about pretty often. I've been in a similar situation that I was pretty shy when I was younger and played a lot of starcraft because of it. However there was a point in college where I did come out of my shell and really was happy w/ what I was doing (this was before I started poker). I disagree with the guys that have said stuff like "poor you, you shouldn't complain" because the real thing that's going on is that everyone has problems in their life, the problems are just different. Some people starve because of a lack of food, these types of people have no problem with worrying about a boss that will make their life tough, nor will they have problems with not interacting with people often enough. Then super rich people have problems with finding a meaning to their lives and struggle to be happy, they have superiority complexes and are unable to relate to other people (obv I'm making generalizations but you get the point). I guess all I'm trying to say is yeah I think it's great to have a job or volunteer. Once I get enough money to live on my own again I'm going to start working to be a basketball coach which I'm pretty excited about. Maybe you can find something similar. I just know that it's awful living this type of life just in front of the computer and making money, it's like a jail sometimes.

Oh, and thanks for taking that unnecessary shot at me maynard. Appreciated.

Having a balanced life & playing poker for a living is pretty easy :
15:00 --> Wake up and have a beer to get rid of hang over
15:15 to 19:15 --> Play poker and make moneys
19:20 --> Start drinking
20:30 --> Go to eat in a (preferably fancy) restaurant w/ some fellow alcoholic poker players
22:30 --> Lose the moneys you just won today at credit card roulette
22:35 to 0:55 --> Drink some more
01:00 --> Go to a nightclub
04:00 --> Go back home with whoever you managed to score tonight (Shemales and hookers are not allowed unless you have been repeating this process with no success for more than 30 days)

Then repeat the whole process, make sure you change the country you're in every 3 months so that you can experience a wide range of beverages/women,

on a more serious note, gl to you twisted, who gives a fuck about making money, happiness should obv always be your priority, so go ahead & be happy buddy

also is wearing your cap backwards any cool in the US ? Rly makes you look like a huge tool imo (no offense tho marshall)

i see more and more of these posts and am kinda thinking that people are overattributing the effect of poker on their lives

on the other hand i guess you'll never know until you stop - and i hope everything works out either way for you

although it may sound immature i do feel like getting with chicks and having a good social life will make this "poker" lifestyle more enjoyable

bleh you know the poker degen life well my friend. gl

On April 19 2009 14:23 MiPwnYa wrote: also is wearing your cap backwards any cool in the US ? Rly makes you look like a huge tool imo (no offense tho marshall)

No he's just a huge tool... xD

<3 Marshall



But ya anyways, it sounds like this woman that has you maybe a little over zealous. It sounds from reading your blog you feel like you're completely trapped from the world when you play poker. However look at how many doors and opportunities it has and will continue to open. You want to go to school and get an education? Do it. You want to join a bowling league? Do it.

I totally know how you feel about isolating yourself at a young age gouges you later in life. Although this will sound stupid, "I love you man" the movie is pretty fucking spot on. How do you meet guy friends? The only guy friends I have made recently are through common interests... Girls, Poker, Partying, & Gaming.

Just don't let this girl be your only solution. Meet her friends, hang out with her friends. Make them your friends, hang out with their friends. etc, etc. Branching out isn't that hard, just takes time.


But w/ez I've ranted and raved long enough.
Good Luck Sir.

Thank you for showing me this before I get too involved in poker.

I will keep it in mind and endeavour to keep a balanced life at all times.

btw... you should really read this book.

http://www.amazon.com/NLP-New-Technol...s=books&qid=1240173721&sr=8-1

I usually fucking hate self help books that sound preachy, but the shit they speak of in this actually makes sense and is easy to use in everyday life.

Like I said, poker freedom comes at a cost. You have to know how to deal with this freedom. I'm a pretty social person to people I know, but I don't have it easy meeting new people. It's just what I've become due to my choices in my teenage life and what I do now. Sure I make a lot of money but this money that opens so many opportunities doesn't mean that you can just grasp it if you are unable to actually act on those opportunities. I've had all these plans like traveling, getting to know myself. Saying stuff like 'going out and just getting drunk with friends is something you can do any time of the week!' doesn't help because all of my friends are leading normal lives. They are students or just starting to work and getting their own houses and stuff and they don't have all the time in the world like me. I'm just sitting on my ass pretty much bumming my life away and that's why I need a change and I don't think poker can do that for me right now.

I need a more stable life, that's just who I am. Participating in society, working with other people instead of just playing poker by myself is important to me. Poker definitely has a great effect on my life right now and I want to get out of it at least for now.

People saying stuff like 'how easy you have it and just spend the money on girls and partying' or 'poor you! all your success and money, it must be so difficult living a free life where you can change your plans in the blink of an eye because you don't have to answer to the man like everybody else does.' apparently don't know how reality works or just haven't experienced yet what it means to be successful in poker. I don't see how poker success is anywhere related to true success. What have I achieved? I am good at a game no-one in my direct life cares about. People are like 'oh cool you made a lot of money in poker' but they honestly don't care. What people care about is actually having achieved something in life like finishing an education and be good at a job people actually care about. Poker is just not challenging. It's free money when you think about it. Sure it's stressful sometimes and I've actually whined when I only made 5k$ in a month but in the end all I did was sit in my ass for maybe only 30-40 hours in a month and mindlessly clicked some buttons on my room devoid of social contact except for the weekends where I meet my friends.

Someone who does not see what I mean just isn't mature enough to see this. People dropping out of school to pursue poker (even if they're kind of successful in it) are just not people I admire. Poker is just an easy way out but it doesn't give you true happiness. It doesn't give you true satisfaction (even if you win a nice hand or when you win x amount of $ in a month or win a huge tournament) and that's what I have noticed lately. You just win some money. I know it's a cliche but I truly believe that money does not equal happiness. At least in this point in time.

I encourage anyone that likes poker to pursue it, but do it with moderation. Find your passion in life and follow that instead. If you truly believe poker is your passion, do it but really think about what you're doing. Poker can be fun now but it's a grind and everyone is going to find that out sooner or later and everyone WILL figure out that they're just bumming their lives away. This includes people who enjoy living it up in Vegas going to the Rhino and just partying 24/7 because at some point in life you want something serious and you want to become something instead of just another random 5/10 poker grinder. And that's where I am right now.

On April 19 2009 13:57 MARSHALL28 wrote: I think about the same type of stuff you are talking about pretty often. I've been in a similar situation that I was pretty shy when I was younger and played a lot of starcraft because of it. However there was a point in college where I did come out of my shell and really was happy w/ what I was doing (this was before I started poker). I disagree with the guys that have said stuff like "poor you, you shouldn't complain" because the real thing that's going on is that everyone has problems in their life, the problems are just different. Some people starve because of a lack of food, these types of people have no problem with worrying about a boss that will make their life tough, nor will they have problems with not interacting with people often enough. Then super rich people have problems with finding a meaning to their lives and struggle to be happy, they have superiority complexes and are unable to relate to other people (obv I'm making generalizations but you get the point). I guess all I'm trying to say is yeah I think it's great to have a job or volunteer. Once I get enough money to live on my own again I'm going to start working to be a basketball coach which I'm pretty excited about. Maybe you can find something similar. I just know that it's awful living this type of life just in front of the computer and making money, it's like a jail sometimes. Oh, and thanks for taking that unnecessary shot at me maynard. Appreciated.

Sorry dude I didn't mean to be a dick to you. At the time when you bought the porsche you were acting somewhat silly with an inflated sense of ego pursuing the wrong things. Your blog posts have reflected that you think this. Thought you might be able to laugh at yourself. Take a step back, it was kinda silly wasn't it? Posting a picture of a Porsche with you having a grin like that and thanking people who you beat for it?

I thought it was a funny picture that'd be apt here. Those who play to pursue the money in the end find no happiness.

No hard feelings dude I'll take it down.

Edit: sorry if none of that makes sense or if i still sound like a prick. I have been palying poker all day and im tired. 8(

Well...first just guessing a bit for fun!

you probably met some girl with a clear direction, goals and ideas about life further more this girl actually actively chases these goals and is enjoying the process and because she is "out" there doing something and she meets lots and lots of friends, people that admire her ways and gains opportunities in the process. I guess you sort of compared your situation with hers and think you will enjoy her lifestyle more and are now planning on trying that?

Other then that i see a lot of similarities between us, as far as i can tell from this blog of course. I kinda had the same feeling as you after finishing my master degree in economics, i just did it because it was expected from me but my hearth was never in it. I never had to work hard for it or anything i could just study 1 day before and pass every exam. In the end i started working fulltime as a mailman to earn money and travel some and decide my "plan"; what i actually wanted to do myself. I could have played poker but i felt like the money would be to easy and i wouldn't learn any discipline that way. Getting up @ 5 in the morning working 5x hours weeks at some boring job at least gave me some perspective how easy the poler money really is. Hard to describe the process but I decided to do another masters degree and am now following the precourse required. I actually enjoy the courses now because it is my own choice, Im there voluntary persueing something i want to do instead of looking on my watch and hoping the teacher will be mildly ill next week. In addition I decided I wanted to change certain things in my life, had some decent success in the process but also some failures, it is quite challenging to change your behavior especially if your history is relevant for the change you try to achieve and not changing your behavior won't have any bad consequences. I for example wanted to go to a foreign country for an internship and simply couldn't reach that because i wasn't active enough next to my studies.

The main challenge you will probably find is to find something you truly like, it is easy to look at someones life and view it as better or perfect but for some people it is simply very hard to be more active/social/driven because it is not in their personality. Most of the people know that have the really active life with a clear goal simply have a huge internal motivation to reach that goal and are often very determined, driven and disciplined in general. Their may be reason you first choose starcraft and then moved on to poker, you may simply enjoy those activities yet find them unfulfilling at the same time because it is not socially acceptable if you don't truly enjoy your new *path* it will be very hard to stick to it and you will probably just pick up another hobby to fill the void that poker left.

Anyway just some reflection, i don't know you personally and it is very hard to rationalize certain life choices like this but i hope i at least provided you with a view from someone who went through the same process. If you got any specific questions or whatever you can always pm, i dont say i can help you but will at least try.

Take care,

Suici

Women are evilc creatures... ;-)bBut sometimes somehow they make you do sound choices in life.

GL man with your new tasks and challenges!