What have you accomplished? What do you hope to accomplish?

[QuantumBalance]

The goal of this thread is to inspire people to take a more active part in the shaping of their own lives. I know through experience how easy it is to slip into an purposeless routine. With everyone reading and posting about what they have and hope to accomplish, I think we could have some great inspiration. If you want it to be about footbag, that's fine, but there is already a lot of that in challenges and footblogs. More here is okay though. But, I was thinking no limits.

So, please post a few accomplishments that you are proud of, and a few things you hope to accomplish in any timespan. Please be humble and maybe together, we can inspire a sum that is greater than our parts.

Have fun (and watch the Hackers trilogy!!)

-Sam

[slapdash21]

im proud of myself for finding a kickass career (locksmithing) without having to go through (ie fail out of) college. in fact, im not even a high school graduate im in the GED club. but my job kicks ass, it pays well, its a 10 minute bike ride from my house, i pick locks for a living, i'll have a company van of my own in a couple months, we have cable tv in the shop, and i never have to worry about going to school ever again!!

2 years ago i was badly failing high school out of sheer laziness. now im pretty much set for life.

so for those of you who think you have no options, just try something not many people think of. you might like it. and college isnt the only option. for a lot of people its good, but if school isnt your thing, but you're still at least fairly intelligent, examine all of your options carefully before assuming you have to go to college. but always have a plan. i didnt drop out of high school before i was positive i had a solid plan that could work.


good thread, sam! you're a forward thinker.

[jay7]

I think that my biggest accomplishment, is finally coming to the realization that, well, potential only seems to be worth anything when you are willing to take the chance to make the effort.

Now, I am only 16 years old, so I haven't had a solid punch of reality yet, so apparently I am still in the "I'm invincible" stage, but for the moment, it TRULY seems as if anything I want to do, I can just get; considering I put the time and effort into it. I am finally taking risks, and finally thinking positive to the point that many things that I have not had in my life [however I have wished I had] are just, coming true.

I'm not sure how much my viewpoint will change once I get into the "real" world, however it is comforting to know, that for the time being, nothing is truly outside my reach.
---
Now, I'm not entirely sure if that is considered an accomplishment, but because of my age, and the fact that good things usually take alot of time and effort, I haven't gotten anything really solid out of it yet. But I think that in the future, if things keep going the way they are presently, I will have such a solid place in reality that I can [almost] consider my entire life an accomplishment, because of everything in it.

[Zeke]

i'm gonna be in michigan for a few days so i won't be able to shred. on the other hand i'm gonna go shred in downtown TC and tell them how dope CIC is.

Favorite people?

I'm afraid I'll forget somebody, but how can I not send a shout-out to CIC? I'm really grateful to all the guys -- Zeke for doing so much to bring me into the footbag world, Tom & Reile for all their encouragement, Tim Werner for being willing to kick with me even when I couldn't string two tricks together.

Freddie for being my 60618 partner even when I get all pissy about how I'm playing & for being down to kick all the time. All you guys for being my friend at a time when it seems really hard to meet people that I don't want to punch in the teeth.

This thread is the first thread that has ever made me want to go play footbag. I mean, I've watched videos or read threads that make me want to try a certain move or link or remind me that I need to school something, but this is the first thread I've read that made me wish I was at Welles park right that second with CIC, having fun.

Pro:
CIC was awesome
New faces and people
Hung out with some old friends too
Sauna was off the hook
Inventing pool games with Tom, Jordan, and Justin
Shredding with DC a lot
Late night party and shred
All the exposure
Great venue
Footbag stitchers' selection
Awesome Prizes

Con:
Competitions were a little unorganized/unofficial at times
I still owe people money for going there
No intermediate comps even though there were enough intermediate players
Got over-shredded and had a hard time playing as much when I got back

Over all, the biggest Jam I've been to, and one of the best so far in my footbag career.

haha yeah i know its random how i keep bumping into people that know CIC. i wish Boston Footbag was a household name

first off, NYJ was amazing. Thanks to CIC and everyone who helped make it an awesome time (everyone who was there) I was so sore for the next couple of days that I could barely walk, and I didnt kick for a week.

-Seeing my CIC friends. Boy did I miss them.
-I feel like at this tourny I spent more time with friends than people I hadn't met before. That's a good thing because at a few of the last tournaments I've been to people have said they felt like I was always busy with other people. It's true that I was spreading myself really thin because I wanted to spend time with everyone and meet every person at the event, so it felt good not doing that at this event...

-Nice New Year's, hanging out with footbag players watching footbag movies, then watching the count down on a Spanish channel. Funny CIC memories on the computer...

-I would love to be near the CIC again. I miss them SO much. Once a year doesn't seem like enough time to spend with people I care about so much...


Dear CIC and people who contributed to NYJ 2006,

Thank you very much for putting on such a great event. It's great that you had so many prizes and didn't charge to enter the events. It's impressive that this event went from a Jam to a Tournament so quickly and you were flexible enough to make it happen close to the last minute. The attendees expressed interest in it so you did what made people happy instead of just sticking to what had originally been planned. The hours of work and planning showed and made it so fun to attend this event. Everything felt basically care free from the time I arrived in Chicago until I left. Thanks for and running a smooth event.

Love,
Emily

[sanuke okumatzu]

Last year I decided I was going to spend vast amounts of time effort and money to study music. It's always been a dream of mine to be in a band, but I always had the mindset that I didn't have any music talent, thusly my dream of being a musician seemed like a far-off fantasy. I Finally got my bass and amp last year around September-ish. With those came many sleepless nights of playing and studying theory. Even then I still felt that my music career wouldn't take me anywhere. I wasn't seeing any progress in my playing, I just couldn't grasp music. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get any better: I couldn't read music, I couldn't get rhythms down, I just couldn't play at all.

Then, one day when I was talking to Scott ( the band director and a good bud of mine ) he told me that music is like water, you can't force it to do what you want... That you have to work with it and learn how to 'swim' in it. Music can't be beaten into you, you need to find a vein of music that you like and just jam with it. You can't worry about every technical aspect of it, trying to make everything fit the mold of what is considered acceptable and popular. Many of the greatest bands and musicians were just fans of the music who picked up an instrument and started jamming. They didn't care if anyone liked what they played or if what they played was considered musically correct. They just had fun playing the music they loved.

Since then I've looked at music in a whole different light. When I play I don't consciously try to make 'music'. I just let what I'm doing flow out and take shape. Whenever I try to write or play 'music' , it sounds bland and sterile. There's no snap to it. Now, almost a whole year later since I started playing things are looking up and I'm seeing great progress in my musicianship. Now, I've got a band together...not quite the best...but, it's fun to get together and jam. I don't think that we'll stick together once we graduate, seeming as I'm the only one who really wants to pursue a music career. But, now I really think that I have a shot at being a successful musician in a few years time.

[james_dean]

(first off, killer thread)

Well, despite being pretty intelligent and finding uni really easy, my phenomenal levels of apathy towards a course that I didn't even have a reason for doing meant I failed first semester of university - care factor zero. I left with the goal of getting into a bank, my sister had done this and it looked pretty good. After just over a year and a completely trampled soul, I finally got an interview at the bank based in my home town. I pwned the interview and got the job. I now earn almost as much as my folks with no qualifications. Head office is based in my town so the promotion opportunites are crazy for a country town (~100,000 pop). I also LOVE my job, work with great people, and work is mostly fun. Been there for 9 months and I still can't believe it.



I'd like to acheive:

- More regular shred... struggled with this since starting full time work. Now have an undercover lighted area to shred at home, so feeling good about this one.

- I want to be a good enough DJ that I could at least play a party without too many errors etc. Working on building/refining my collection... don't have my own gear yet but have my heart on a Behringer BCD3000. Google it, it's hot. Currently putting together a mix.

- I want to release my mind from damaging mindsets... about a month into this one and doing very well. Gradually freeing my mind from unneccesary pain.

- Get a tattoo. A small one. I just have no idea what to get

[jrstubs]

- Get a tattoo. A small one. I just have no idea what to get

I'll send you a free cowsack if you get a tatoo that says "CowSack"

[Iron Clad Ben]

Good topic Sam, I'm hoping to draw some motivation from what other people write.

Accomplishments of note so far: graduated from good school in 4 years with engineering degree. Got a good paying job. Paid off all student loan debt in about 4 years after college. Bought a house. 2 1/2 year good relationship with gf.

Footbag has really been the only other I thing I have going on outside of that. I have so many other hobbies or passions that I've abandoned or lost interest in. Something about it though, I do not see myself stopping footbag for a long time.

I've been having trouble with complacency issues. I know I should be doing more with my life, but everything just seems out of reach or unappealing. I've been very privileged and fortunate (although sometimes I forget that) and I feel like I should be giving a lot more back. I thought about going back to grad school to study environmental engineering, thinking I could really put my abilities to good use for the sake of the planet, but I just didn't have the motivation to study for the GREs and apply. I thought about going back to school to get my certification to become a math/science teacher, but when it came down to it I just didn't want to go through all the trouble just for a pay cut. I know that sounds incredibly selfish, but now that I have a mortgage and crap, my lifestyle has upkeep costs it didn't have before. Responsibility can suck.

I have been thinking about doing Big Brother program and mentoring a kid. But that is just one kid. I feel like I should be and could be helping out a lot more people. I feel like I should be doing more than feeding the corporate machine and just picking up a paycheck.

So I'm curious to see what other people put here as thing's they'd like to accomplish. I'm out of ideas that sound appealing.

[hacksterbator]

I feel that for a 21 year old, i have accomplished alot.

when i was a little kid i really wanted to be an actor, so i started taking musical theater classes when i was 7. turned out i was pretty good, and to compliment the musical theater i started taking dance classes as well, spending every night after school at the dance studio.

When i was 10, i won the provincial dance festival for musical theater soloist for my age group and the entire festival's junior category. At 11 i won again for best musical theater soloist for my age group, the junior category, and best over all performance at the festival. I went on to the regional championships and again swept the competition and won my age group category at the national championships.

My childhood dreams of becoming an actor were realized when at 11 i auditioned for a role on "The Adventures of Shirley Holmes". i landed a small, one time gig on the show. at 12 i landed a role as a "Joel McKenna" a regular character on "Honey I Shrunk The Kids, The Tv Series" which was filmed out of Clagary and i worked for 2 years on the show, living between winnipeg and calgary. I was making more money when i was 12 than my parents were. i later did some films on occasion but my passions switched to fencing.

I should also point out that while i worked on this series i was training for fencing non stop. I was named to the provincial fencing team at 13 and was voted captain by my team mates. we competed at the canada winter games in 1999, and did terribly, but it was being named to the team and all the hard work that went into it that was the accomplishment.

i won the manitoba provincial championships 5 years in a row from 2000-2004.

i was eventually named to the national fencing squad, after having claimed medals the the 2 canadian circuit events and the national championships.

at 16 i moved out to montreal to train with the rest of the national team. i had my own apartment, and i didn't burn it down which i think is an accomplishment in it's self!

during my time on the team i represented canada at several world cups, but never managed to qualify for the world championships.

the last Major competition i did was a wrold cup in motreal when i was 17, and i ended up winning bronze. to date it is the greatest accomplishment i have ever achieved.

I quit fencing after that when i had to move back to winnipeg, and when i quit i was ranked 33rd in the world, under the age of 20. This always makes me wonder, since i was only 17 and a first year junior, what would have happened had i stayed with it untill the end of my junior years. i guess this and giving up on my olympic dream is my biggest regret to date.

some other accomplishments i am proud of but that are not quite the same:
my high gpa at uni, and having been given scholarships despite being a B- student in highschool.
Djing. i have been a lover of electronic music for years. learning to mix and playing out at clubs has been an achievement.

i'd like to acomplish alot of those "life" things. get my degree, start my career, buy a home, have a family. I want hackrifice to get bigger. i want to freestyle well into my 30's, like rippin, peter and ritchie.

[PegLegHolly]

wow thats really impressive, andrew!

awesome thread!

[jrstubs]

wow thats really impressive, andrew!

awesome thread!

Hah, at first I thought you were referring to my post, but then "oh no it couldn't be!"

[slapdash21]

wow thats really impressive, andrew!

awesome thread!

Hah, at first I thought you were referring to my post, but then "oh no it couldn't be!"

thats nothing, at first i thought this was the mallets thread

[Blue_turnip]

Last year I decided I was going to spend vast amounts of time effort and money to study music. It's always been a dream of mine to be in a band, but I always had the mindset that I didn't have any music talent, thusly my dream of being a musician seemed like a far-off fantasy. I Finally got my bass and amp last year around September-ish. With those came many sleepless nights of playing and studying theory. Even then I still felt that my music career wouldn't take me anywhere. I wasn't seeing any progress in my playing, I just couldn't grasp music. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get any better: I couldn't read music, I couldn't get rhythms down, I just couldn't play at all.

Then, one day when I was talking to Scott ( the band director and a good bud of mine ) he told me that music is like water, you can't force it to do what you want... That you have to work with it and learn how to 'swim' in it. Music can't be beaten into you, you need to find a vein of music that you like and just jam with it. You can't worry about every technical aspect of it, trying to make everything fit the mold of what is considered acceptable and popular. Many of the greatest bands and musicians were just fans of the music who picked up an instrument and started jamming. They didn't care if anyone liked what they played or if what they played was considered musically correct. They just had fun playing the music they loved.

Since then I've looked at music in a whole different light. When I play I don't consciously try to make 'music'. I just let what I'm doing flow out and take shape. Whenever I try to write or play 'music' , it sounds bland and sterile. There's no snap to it. Now, almost a whole year later since I started playing things are looking up and I'm seeing great progress in my musicianship. Now, I've got a band together...not quite the best...but, it's fun to get together and jam. I don't think that we'll stick together once we graduate, seeming as I'm the only one who really wants to pursue a music career. But, now I really think that I have a shot at being a successful musician in a few years time.

Don't swim in it, drink that motherfucker down!

Awesome thread dude, but i must admit "Please be humble and maybe together, we can inspire a sum that is greater than our parts." was getting fairly pretentious , not to mention that it doesn't even make proper sense.

I feel that for a 21 year old, i have accomplished alot.

when i was a little kid i really wanted to be an actor, so i started taking musical theater classes when i was 7. turned out i was pretty good, and to compliment the musical theater i started taking dance classes as well, spending every night after school at the dance studio.

When i was 10, i won the provincial dance festival for musical theater soloist for my age group and the entire festival's junior category. At 11 i won again for best musical theater soloist for my age group, the junior category, and best over all performance at the festival. I went on to the regional championships and again swept the competition and won my age group category at the national championships.

My childhood dreams of becoming an actor were realized when at 11 i auditioned for a role on "The Adventures of Shirley Holmes". i landed a small, one time gig on the show. at 12 i landed a role as a "Joel McKenna" a regular character on "Honey I Shrunk The Kids, The Tv Series" which was filmed out of Clagary and i worked for 2 years on the show, living between winnipeg and calgary. I was making more money when i was 12 than my parents were. i later did some films on occasion but my passions switched to fencing.

I should also point out that while i worked on this series i was training for fencing non stop. I was named to the provincial fencing team at 13 and was voted captain by my team mates. we competed at the canada winter games in 1999, and did terribly, but it was being named to the team and all the hard work that went into it that was the accomplishment.

i won the manitoba provincial championships 5 years in a row from 2000-2004.

i was eventually named to the national fencing squad, after having claimed medals the the 2 canadian circuit events and the national championships.

at 16 i moved out to montreal to train with the rest of the national team. i had my own apartment, and i didn't burn it down which i think is an accomplishment in it's self!

during my time on the team i represented canada at several world cups, but never managed to qualify for the world championships.

the last Major competition i did was a wrold cup in motreal when i was 17, and i ended up winning bronze. to date it is the greatest accomplishment i have ever achieved.

I quit fencing after that when i had to move back to winnipeg, and when i quit i was ranked 33rd in the world, under the age of 20. This always makes me wonder, since i was only 17 and a first year junior, what would have happened had i stayed with it untill the end of my junior years. i guess this and giving up on my olympic dream is my biggest regret to date.

some other accomplishments i am proud of but that are not quite the same:
my high gpa at uni, and having been given scholarships despite being a B- student in highschool.
Djing. i have been a lover of electronic music for years. learning to mix and playing out at clubs has been an achievement.

i'd like to acomplish alot of those "life" things. get my degree, start my career, buy a home, have a family. I want hackrifice to get bigger. i want to freestyle well into my 30's, like rippin, peter and ritchie.

nice biography, you should publish it book format instead of wasting my bandwidth.

Lol just kidding. Awesome stuff. You should get back into fencing, its never too late to pick up the sword and charge towards victory.

Now, about my own brilliant self:

Past accomplishments: Nothing much really. I have had a few hobbies that i'm fairly good at, but yeah.

Current goals:
-To get a Computer Science Degree at melbourne uni.
-To become the best at chess. http://www.modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.php?t=16665

[QuantumBalance]

"You have added this person to your Ignore List."

A great accomplishment!!!

[Blue_turnip]

Fine then, hide from the fact that you're a noob. You're not going to make any accomplishments unless you face your fears, and deal with your excessive pretentiousness

Accomplish:
1. to bring about (a result) by effort

Lol, hitting the ignore button must've been a great effort for someone as challenged as you.

But uhh, props on the nice thread again mate.

[HG]

I have become mediocre at many things!

Including, but not limited to: Soccer, Fishing, Tennis, Hack, football, baseball, softball, swimming, kayaking, pizza hutting, cooking for real, eating healthy, biking, long distance running, and some other stuff.


Some stuff I have done:
ran a 5:25 mile in 5th grade
made varsity in tennis freshman year
playing well in soccer
quitting all of these sports for footbag
overcame terrible knees due to soccer


I dont know, I haven't really done anything great, who knows if i ever will, as long as I am content with my life i don't feel like i have to accomplish anything amazing.

[Zeke]

What I hope to accomplish:

I want HUGE regular sessions here in Chicago where hack, shred, net & squares can be played in one place. CIC b-day jam 2006 made me see it was possible when 34 locals came out to play. The growing net scene makes it more promising.

[Blue_turnip]

ran a 5:25 mile in 5th grade

LOL WTF? THAT IS LEGENDARY!

[Zeb Jackson]

accomplished:
-3rd and 4th grade, i one a skiing comp held every year at grande targhee it was verse like 3 different schools, and i schooled them 2 years in a row.
-ive never been fired from a job, i thought that was notable
-ive never failed any classes in school
-tought teachers, how to use computer software during the summer for 2 summers (7th and 8th) grade
-was my middle schools president in 8th grade
-i graduated high school on the honor roll
-was in a potentially good metal band until i moved to college
-made it to college

not the best, but to me those are accomplishments im proud of

what i want to accomplish
-not sucking at hack
-graduate school with atleast my bachelors, and go on to grad school
-visit europe (i dont care where, although a footbag related venture would be cool)
-not becoming wealthy, but being independent enough, to where i dont really have to worry about money, and still be able to live decently comfortably
-eat at that burrito place in montana again next year (best burritos ive ever had) along with that sandwich shop.

[Blue_turnip]

-not becoming wealthy, but being independent enough, to where i dont really have to worry about money, and still be able to live decently comfortably

that sounds pretty wealthy to me.