What do you consider to be your most important accomplishment to date?

[LilAlex]

Seriously - is that even a book??

Not only that -- but I owned it! It was 19 cents at K-Mart. And I don't mean that it was, like, 19 cents at, like, K-Mart -- I mean it was actually 19 cents at an actual K-Mart. I bought it when I was a little kid because it was chock-full of tiny, grainy B&W photos of, you guessed it, trilobites and this was way before the internet and trilobites were so cool and where else could you see hundreds of photos of them? I remember wondering if every country had its own local guide to Ordovician trilobites or if this was something that fostered Argentinian destination travel. "Eat our beef; see our trilobites!"

My Dad (gently) teased me about this book for decades. To think that someone spent half their life creating this opus only to have it sell for 19 cents. (The photo above was from a listing for $45 on Amazon, so I should have cornered the market back when I had the chance.)

 

[mrs-b]

Not only that -- but I owned it! It was 19 cents at K-Mart. And I don't mean that it was, like, 19 cents at, like, K-Mart -- I mean it was actually 19 cents at an actual K-Mart. I bought it when I was a little kid because it was chock-full of tiny, grainy B&W photos of, you guessed it, trilobites and this was way before the internet and trilobites were so cool and where else could you see hundreds of photos of them? I remember wondering if every country had its own local guide to Ordovician trilobites or if this was something that fostered Argentinian destination travel. "Eat our beef; see our trilobites!"

My Dad (gently) teased me about this book for decades. To think that someone spent half their life creating this opus only to have it sell for 19 cents. (The photo above was from a listing for $45 on Amazon, so I should have cornered the market back when I had the chance.)

The only thing that comes to mind for me is that you must have been an adorable child.

 

[dk168]

Having the courage to go out and about on my own, including foreign countries, as an independent traveller.

DK

 

[stracci2000]

Surviving a divorce and creating a whole new life for myself.

 

[Brigid]

Meeting & marrying my gorgeous husband, having 2 amazing children and being a step mother to my lovely stepson; will always be my most cherished accomplishments.
But, my career has been an ultimate accomplishment, because it’s been about me. Re-establishing my career has been incredibly rewarding and involved intensive study which I have found thoroughly enjoyable, difficult at times and quite cathartic. I feel extremely lucky to be able to recreate this after being a SAHM for 10 years.

 

[missy]

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies.
Personally, I cannot specifically say there is one achievement that is my best.
I am grateful for many accomplishments. Yes, I worked hard but I also feel there is luck involved and I take nothing for granted and am grateful for it all. I will list what I consider to be the top 3 in no particular order.

1. I went into the field I had set my sights on (haha pun intended) when I was just a teenager. And in my 30 year career I felt I made a difference in the lives of my patients. I worked at a non profit with developmentally disabled adults and children diagnosing and treating their eye disease and helping those with eye issues improve their visual and real life functioning. They are the underserved population and I am thankful I found my niche there and didn't pass up the opportunity (because it was daunting at first and I was unsure I would be well suited working with this population).

2. Meeting and marrying my dh. Before him I truly felt I never wanted to marry because I was very independent and very happy with my life as it was. I am grateful I finally realized (after 5 years of dating lol) that yes I wanted to marry him. I was definitely slow in this area but what counts is that I married my sweet wonderful DH and am still so in love with him all these years later. More than when we first got married if it is possible. He is my B'shert. I believe he is my soulmate and I do not think there was anyone else who fit with me so perfectly. Thankful and grateful for his unconditional love and support and for allowing me to be who I am and for cheering me on as I strive to be the best person I could be. He is my everything and that is scary but it is a fact.

3. One of my life's passion is helping animals. In my 20s and 30s I volunteered with rescue groups raising money and doing what we could for the animals in need. Finding them homes. Getting them the medical care they needed. Neutering them so there would be less unloved unwanted homeless animals. It was challenging work because I saw animals suffering and for someone like me (an HSS) it was hard to bear but when I was younger I was better able to handle it. After two decades I could no longer continue and had to change things in order to continue helping the animals.

Fast forward to the present... my DH and I have been doing TNR with the local feral cats for the past two decades and we feed and shelter the ones who live in our property. The feral cat situation (and homeless animal situation overall) is a vast problem and I wish we could save them all. But we cannot. However, at least we can make a difference for those cats whose lives we do help. The quote "Saving one cat/dog will not change the world, but surely for that one cat/dog, the world will change forever."

So we do what we can..one cat at a time. To date this feels like one of our most important accomplishments because the animals have no voice. We must be their voice. And we will continue doing what we can despite it never being enough. If only all humans could take some responsibility for the plight of the cats and dogs who are homeless. If we could all do our part we could make this a more humane, more civilized world.

I will share one more quote here that I feel to be meaningful and true

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up"

Amen to that. To reach one's goals one must persevere. Nothing worthwhile is easy. In my experience

 

[caf]

My daughter. We’ve gone through some hard and rough times and she’s turned out to be smart, kind and empathetic. And tough. So tough.

 

[Lookinagain]

I would say my daughter too, but since you're asking about things that are not our children, I guess I'll say my career. I started out as an attorney but ended up managing a few states for a very large corporation. I feel like I gave it my all and retired last year. The reason I am choosing this, is because many of my prior employees still contact me, and tell me how much they miss my management style. I wasn't a pushover at all, but always felt that the most important thing was to be fair and they all say that although I could be tough at times, I was always fair. So I guess I accomplished my goal. And sometimes it was really hard.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I survived the loss of a daughter and gained another son through gender affirmation. My youngest child struggled with gender dysphoria, suicidal thoughts and self harm from the ages of 10-18, my spouse and I struggle substance abuse and self-medicating to get through our child’s gender struggle, the pandemic and it nearly broke us. My eldest became diagnosed with depression and later bipolar 1. But through all of the mental and emotional turmoil, my family is intact and I have 2 healthy sons now and my Dh and I have a rekindled love for each other……We are finally open and revealing our new family to everyone, and being supported by close friends and family!

 

[Calliecake]

My daughter. We’ve gone through some hard and rough times and she’s turned out to be smart, kind and empathetic. And tough. So tough.

@caf, I’m so proud of your daughter!!!

 

[Calliecake]

@mrs-b, Did you take down your heartfelt honest post?

 

[Calliecake]

maybe tomorrow i might do something worthy of this thread
meanwhile im just a little cog in the big machine of life
i have came to the realization im not going to save or change the world
and that's ok, i get out of bed, i go to work and i pay my taxes

@Daisys and Diamonds, Your kindness comes thru all the time. You come into contact with many people in the course of your day and have no idea what some of these people may be going thru. I have no doubt that your kindness has helped a few people when they really needed it, even if you were unaware of it. Your words here always seem genuine and kind. You have helped many people just by being you. Helping others is an important accomplishment.

 

[mrs-b]

@mrs-b, Did you take down your heartfelt honest post?

No... <looking around confused>

I haven't taken down anything that I can recall. Perhaps it was on a different thread?

 

[Lookinagain]

No... <looking around confused>

I haven't taken down anything that I can recall. Perhaps it was on a different thread?

If it's the one about illness, I think it's in the thread about what everyone should do/experience at least once in their life, if I'm thinking about the post @Calliecake is referring to.

 

[Calliecake]

I’m sorry @mrs-b. You are correct @Lookinagain. Thank you. That was post I was referring to.

It was a very insightful post @mrs-b.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

t

@Daisys and Diamonds, Your kindness comes thru all the time. You come into contact with many people in the course of your day and have no idea what some of these people may be going thru. I have no doubt that your kindness has helped a few people when they really needed it, even if you were unaware of it. Your words here always seem genuine and kind. You have helped many people just by being you. Helping others is an important accomplishment.

thats very kind of you @Calliecake
an older lady did thank me for talking to her as we got off the bus yesterday, her and her hubbie only moved here at xmas and as we know its hard to make friends

i hope you are having a nice weekend

 

[glitterata]

Not only that -- but I owned it! It was 19 cents at K-Mart. And I don't mean that it was, like, 19 cents at, like, K-Mart -- I mean it was actually 19 cents at an actual K-Mart. I bought it when I was a little kid because it was chock-full of tiny, grainy B&W photos of, you guessed it, trilobites and this was way before the internet and trilobites were so cool and where else could you see hundreds of photos of them? I remember wondering if every country had its own local guide to Ordovician trilobites or if this was something that fostered Argentinian destination travel. "Eat our beef; see our trilobites!"

My Dad (gently) teased me about this book for decades. To think that someone spent half their life creating this opus only to have it sell for 19 cents. (The photo above was from a listing for $45 on Amazon, so I should have cornered the market back when I had the chance.)

Do you continue to be interested in trilobites? They are fascinating!

 

[LilAlex]

Do you continue to be interested in trilobites? They are fascinating!

I think they are so cool! And I love all the species and their evolution. And, like everyone else on this forum, I now have the (adult) resources to buy a decent fossil -- and not one of those identical plastic eBay ones. Except I have been so conditioned that squirreling away a fossil in a "private collection" invisible to the eyes of science and divorced from its stratigraphic context is some sort of violation and I just can't shake it. Like how my wife will never (ever, ever) use Saran Wrap. I know I brought this up on another thread and it was (correctly) pointed out that my little fossil means nothing to science and I agree -- but that tiny voice is enough. I do love fossils, though! Oh -- we have some big hunks of petrified wood that a family member "collected" a half-century ago and I seem to be OK with that.

 

[OreoRosies86]

Meeting a brilliant musician, marrying him, co-writing and recording a beautiful album with him.

 

[glitterata]

I think they are so cool! And I love all the species and their evolution. And, like everyone else on this forum, I now have the (adult) resources to buy a decent fossil -- and not one of those identical plastic eBay ones. Except I have been so conditioned that squirreling away a fossil in a "private collection" invisible to the eyes of science and divorced from its stratigraphic context is some sort of violation and I just can't shake it. Like how my wife will never (ever, ever) use Saran Wrap. I know I brought this up on another thread and it was (correctly) pointed out that my little fossil means nothing to science and I agree -- but that tiny voice is enough. I do love fossils, though! Oh -- we have some big hunks of petrified wood that a family member "collected" a half-century ago and I seem to be OK with that.

These photos are for @LilAlex --and now I will shut up and stop threadjacking. Apologies!

 

[Lookinagain]

These photos are for @LilAlex --and now I will shut up and stop threadjacking. Apologies!

Admitting that I had to look up what a Trilobite was. Showing my ignorance I guess, but that's how I learn!

 

[LilAlex]

These photos are for @LilAlex

These are amazing! Smithsonian?

Troubling underrepresentation of the Ordovician -- hours of youthful study wasted!

But can't not think of this:



Or maybe this:



When I saw this:

 

[glitterata]

These are amazing! Smithsonian?

AMNH in NYC.

 

[canuk-gal]

These are amazing! Smithsonian?

Troubling underrepresentation of the Ordovician -- hours of youthful study wasted!

But can't not think of this:



Or maybe this:



When I saw this:

Cool! Petrified penis'!

 

[monarch64]

Cool! Petrified penis'!

Omg I nearly fell off my bed laughing!

Also, @canuk-gal will you be starting a Summer Blockbusters thread this year? I looked and couldn’t find one…I have a movie I’d like to recommend!

 

[mom2dolls]

Surviving. Getting out of bed everyday, continuing to have hope even in the darkest of times.

 

[ame]

Somewhere between surviving and escaping an abusive marriage and overhauling my life to lose 115lbs and keep it off for a couple years now--my fitness overall. I've taken care of myself, despite how selfish it's been, for the last few years and I would never have been so successful had I not escaped that situation.

 

[canuk-gal]

Somewhere between surviving and escaping an abusive marriage and overhauling my life to lose 115lbs and keep it off for a couple years now--my fitness overall. I've taken care of myself, despite how selfish it's been, for the last few years and I would never have been so successful had I not escaped that situation.

Stay well!!!

 

[ame]

Stay well!!!

Sure working on it, thank you!