What is the best accomplishment of your life so far?

Overcoming all my childhood trauma and going through the personal transformation that I have to become who I am now. I struggled with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for about 10 years (didn't know that's what it was until that last year of that) and almost committed suicide. It ruined all my relationships, interfered with my running, career, strained friendships, etc. I finally had a breakthrough and went through a pretty extreme transformation that was noticeable to everyone who knew me and that permanently changed my personality. As a result of my transformation, I'm a much, much stronger person, someone others can rely on, the patriarch of my family of origin (along with my dad who is still alive, though getting older), have had better relationships, and am much more in control of my life. I understand myself literally 1000X better than I did 10 years ago, and it is amazing.

I was also HS state champion in indoor and outdoor track and cross-country, salutatorian of my class, have multiple college degrees, have traveled all over the Earth, have a net wealth of around $130k at age 31, and maintain a physique that causes others to sometimes tell me I should be a bodybuilder or a model. BUT, none of it compares to overcoming my childhood trauma. It is simultaneously the accomplishment I'm most proud of and the one I probably speak about the least.

Single and Proud wrote:

Hog wrote:

My wife and 2 daughters. Couple Olympic medals come after that.

Dafaq? I've never even come close to getting in the Olympics, and I'd rate my running accomplishments over any (hypothetical) wife and kids. I'd even consider it a negative accomplishment since you're losing your time, money, and freedom.

As for me:

1. Earning 100K a year before 30

2. Buying a house by 25

3. Graduating from college loan-free

4. Summiting Aconcagua

5. Running a sub 2 800

6. Flying across the country in a single engine Cessna

7. Writing a program that plays grandmaster-level chess

8. Visiting all 50 states

9. Getting in the local news a few times

10. Being able to understand 4 different languages (would have rated this higher if I was very fluent in all of them)

In other words, you grew up with a rich family and they paid for your college and got you a good job. Congrats.

Complex PTSD is serious. How did you overcome it? Social responsibility for someone? I have experienced that from someone I trusted a tonne cheating me in a horrendously dangerous and awful way, out of nowhere. It is so crazy how it can just arise all at once like that.

Running 57 seconds in the 400m at 6' 190 lbs.

Besides my wife and 3 kids, I’ve created a successful rental property business. I’ve been able to quit my nightmare job at At&t of 10 years , 5 years ago. I’m 36, and running 5 days a week. Life is rolling good at the moment

There's nothing wrong with family being your best accomplishment. Helping your brother overcome drug addiction, paying off your parent's mortgage, or coaching your nephew to run a fast mile are all great accomplishments.

But getting or staying married isn't an accomplishment. Anyone can do that.

Single and Proud wrote:

Hog wrote:

My wife and 2 daughters. Couple Olympic medals come after that.

Dafaq? I've never even come close to getting in the Olympics, and I'd rate my running accomplishments over any (hypothetical) wife and kids. I'd even consider it a negative accomplishment since you're losing your time, money, and freedom.

As for me:

1. Earning 100K a year before 30

2. Buying a house by 25

3. Graduating from college loan-free

4. Summiting Aconcagua

5. Running a sub 2 800

6. Flying across the country in a single engine Cessna

7. Writing a program that plays grandmaster-level chess

8. Visiting all 50 states

9. Getting in the local news a few times

10. Being able to understand 4 different languages (would have rated this higher if I was very fluent in all of them)

3/10, hit all of the letsrun tropes and then some

Two things really helped me: 1) reading "Complex PTSD: from surviving to thriving," and 2) Watching a lot of Jordan Peterson, especially bits in which he talks about PTSD, trauma, malevolence, evil, etc. The two in combination essentially healed me. However, I had also been trying to figure things out for about a decade reading about depression, mood swings, night terrors, etc, so what I learned there may have contributed too. Overall though, I think doing the two things I listed above AND talking with a professional (something I never did but wish I had done a long time ago) would greatly help anyone.

big HONKING birds wrote:

Single and Proud wrote:

Dafaq? I've never even come close to getting in the Olympics, and I'd rate my running accomplishments over any (hypothetical) wife and kids. I'd even consider it a negative accomplishment since you're losing your time, money, and freedom.

As for me:

1. Earning 100K a year before 30

2. Buying a house by 25

3. Graduating from college loan-free

4. Summiting Aconcagua

5. Running a sub 2 800

6. Flying across the country in a single engine Cessna

7. Writing a program that plays grandmaster-level chess

8. Visiting all 50 states

9. Getting in the local news a few times

10. Being able to understand 4 different languages (would have rated this higher if I was very fluent in all of them)

3/10, hit all of the letsrun tropes and then some

FIFY

1. Earning $200K a year before 30

2. Buying a $400K house by 25, owning a $750K mcmansionby 30

3. Graduating from elite or Ivy university loan-free

4. Summiting Everest

5. Running a sub 14 5K

6. Flying across the country in my great grand father's biplane, and winning a marathon in sub 2:30 just after landing

7. Writing a the 4D chess program for the RNC

8. Strava segment records in all 50 states

9. Making national news on a monthly basis

10. Fluent in 6 different languages

11. Trophy wife [/quote]

Living long enough to retire in good physical condition and have the physical and financial resources to remain that way for the next 20 years.

Getting married and or having children are choices and or accidents not accomplishments.

Whenever a variation of this question is asked (e.g., What is the proudest accomplishment of your life so far?), the first thing that comes to my mind is that I took pretty good care of a couple of cats for almost twenty years.

Wuut wrote:

Getting married and or having children are choices and or accidents not accomplishments.

Not him but I treated starting a family very seriously. It was something I couldn't imagine doing unless I sorted myself out mentally, pursued my passions (writing and running), obtained strong financial health, and met a person I could imagine building something with. Once I got married it symbolically meant that I had conquered all the challenges that followed me from 14-30.

Now I have new challenges in my life, but you shouldn't equate everyones' views of a family to some trailer-trash level of them just getting hitched and popping out kids without thought. Try practicing some cognitive empathy before you post.

I attracted a beautiful woman by strategically ignoring her and it got me laid.

I once got enough stamps on my subway card to get a free sub.

31 years of marriage to the same girl, 2 kids and 2 grandkids, 2 school records in college and OTQ - the things I'm most proud of.

But my most fun and recent accomplishment that puts a spring in my step was getting published. The book is about running (LetsRun target is a perfect target audience, LOL). Hope you all check it out over the holidays, Racing Shadows. You might enjoy!

https://www.amazon.com/Racing-Shadows-James-K-Dill/dp/1627202420/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Did not inherit a billion bucks wrote:

Any bum or meth head can get married and have kids. Just check out your local trailer park or Walmart.

Agreed. What is the percentage of the adult population who got married and/or had kids, 50+% or so?

Running, even hobby jogging, is a far greater accomplishment. A lot less than 50% of the population has ever run a sub 25 minute 5K or completed a half-marathon in a day.

If you adopted a kid with behavioral issues or disabilities, turned that person's life around, and got him/her into a good career path, than that's certainly an accomplishment that's better than running a sub 15 5K. But being married in itself and/or knocking someone up states almost nothing.

Autist wrote:

Wuut wrote:

Getting married and or having children are choices and or accidents not accomplishments.

Not him but I treated starting a family very seriously. It was something I couldn't imagine doing unless I sorted myself out mentally, pursued my passions (writing and running), obtained strong financial health, and met a person I could imagine building something with. Once I got married it symbolically meant that I had conquered all the challenges that followed me from 14-30.

Now I have new challenges in my life, but you shouldn't equate everyones' views of a family to some trailer-trash level of them just getting hitched and popping out kids without thought. Try practicing some cognitive empathy before you post.

Your big accomplishments are sorting yourself out, pursuing your passions, and obtaining strong financial health. Marriage is not one of your best accomplishments.

If you had a twin who remained single but went through the exact same things as you and conquered those obstacles the exact same way with the exact same results, I'd consider that person to be just as accomplished as you are.

One time:

I got a fidget spinner in my happy meal at Starbucks!