Hey man.....now you're really living!

Khannie

So I was listening to that song by the Eels there the other day. Crackin' tune. If you don't know it, it starts out like this:

"Do you know what it's like to fall on the floor and cry your guts out 'til you got no more?....Hey man....Now you're really living."

And I thought about it a bit and I think actually it's probably really true. The real highs and lows of life are when you feel most alive.

So....when in your life did you feel like you were most alive?

Praetorian Saighdiuir

There have been a few times...(mainly work related)

1/
I think I was 14, had recently fractured my upper arm, a mate of mine dropped something belonging to his dad out of his attic window and it got caught in the roofs gutter. My mate was freakin out, we tried to dislodge it with 2 sweeping brushes but couldnt reach......BRAINWAVE......he climbed out the attic window and onto the roof while I held him by his ankles. This guy was a fat fat 14 year old and I was trying to hold onto him with my arm in a sling. He kept slipping and slipping, I couldnt pull him in. So, I had no choice but to unsling my arm and try and drag him back up. Eventually we were both out lying down on the roof, me this time holding on to the attic window with my toes curled around the widow frame...we wer like that for about 20-25 minutes, kinda resigned ourselves to the fact that there was nowhere to go but down headfirst....
...
Just in time, his brother turned up and dragged us both back in, if he had not turned up, we were fooked!
2/
When I was 16, the first time I fired a rifle, (7.62mm for anyone that knows the F.N), held it badly, had no ear protection on, was half standing on a ditch...took up aim at a target...bang.....sent me backwards on my ass, scared the life outta me, my heart was beating so fast, such adrenaline, ears were ringing and I didnt hit the target.

Just 2 for the mo, post more later.

amacachi

Honestly can't think of any tbh. Well, since I stopped taking drugs anyway.

Bottle_of_Smoke

When on magic mushrooms

Jumping off a pier into the cold sea on clare island

congo_90

First time having proper sex (you know what i mean).

Practising engine failures and feeling the sinking feeling

when the boss called me in on my day off cos no-one was in and busted my nut off breaking a company output record

when my first love broke up.. you know you're alive when you feel that!

Going down a dirt track up the mountains on a bicycle knowing any second i could die a painful death if i fook up (wasn't even a proper mountain bike!)

thats all I got for now

OldGoat

I've had a few occasions that kinda made me stand still and appriciate what I have. usually involved near death experiences and escapes.

However, my last true moment of clarity was two years ago, springtime. I took a day off work, piled the Missus and the kiddlets into the car and went to the Japanise Gardens in Kildare on a chilly glorously bright morning.
We had the place to ourselves, the gardens were at their best, full of blossom. I stood there, shoulder to shoulder with herself as the kids ran riot and I felt a moment of pure joy and absoloutly everything in my life was good. I remember thinking very rationally that this is a moment that I'll always remember, a feeling that I'll always remember and that I'm going to do my damnest to re-create this moment again.

Twas awesome. :cool:

Snowie

One of them was in marly park when daft punk where playing.

the other was doing this of back country snowboarding avalanch transeavers probe snow shovels was in France 2 years ago... I dont think I've ever felt so alive...

looking down
http://tinypic.com/r/wb6nvt/4
looking up
http://tinypic.com/r/2hwedyp/4
the way out
http://tinypic.com/r/29ynou1/4

I don't even think i could describr how big it was, but its about 3 times wider then crow park and 4 times longer if more. it was once a glacer...

I think another time was whne i was windsurfing on the malahide estury i was just doing reachs on the plain no tricks. just going as fast as i could... dont think anything come close to freedom like that

Khannie

Some really good ones so far.

Mine:
The day my dad died. I'd been bottling it all up for ages and it was a long illness. I'd been up for about 50 hours straight. Got into bed with my girlfriend (now wife) and sobbed like I've never sobbed before. My god that was cleansing. Slept like a baby after it.

One morning I was up early. Made breakfast (pancakes) with my little girl. We sat at the table and she sat on my knee. Nice mug of coffee. Pure silence. Both of us happy as larry. Absolutely class.

Every time I step into the ring I suppose. People (especially in the office) ask me why I'd do it, you know, risk likely injury and so on and it can be hard to justify (even to yourself sometimes). Well....god damn....you're sure you're alive when that bell goes.

I'm sure I'll think of more but that's it for now.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Khannie wrote: »

Every time I step into the ring I suppose. People (especially in the office) ask me why I'd do it, you know, risk likely injury and so on and it can be hard to justify (even to yourself sometimes). Well....god damn....you're sure you're alive when that bell goes.

.

I get the same things said to me, and I'm probably 15yrs older than you :P

Sitting with the family last night and looking at my finger's, my daughter say's "Dad what are you looking at?" - I show her my pinkie on the right, and she nearly vomits, its DISLOCATED!.. But its been like that awhile, so I'll leave it.

Anyway, high's for me.

I guess the first real one was when my son Kevin was born, I'm not usually someone who show's emotion too easy. But when he was born I suddenly burst out crying and couldn't stop. This was in the days before mobile phone's so I'd to go to the phone at the Rotunda's waiting room (the very one Colm Meanie used in 'The Snapper') to ring my parents.

But I couldn't stop crying, so they thought there was something wrong until a lady in the room took the phone from me to tell them they'd a grandson and everything was ok (damn I've got tear's in my eye's now!).

Another I guess (and Benweaver can probably identify with this one) was the first time I was under fire in Lebanon. I was in a place called 'Tech Town' (long story) getting an APC fault inspected when the Israeli Defence Forces opened up on the village. I didn't know where the bunker was, so I was running towards an APC when an artillary round impacted close by, it was funny because I remember thinking 'Fvck, everything shakes just like the war documentries'

Of course there's lots more, but they stand out most.

And I'm sure you guys will understand if I don't look back on the low's, I hate doing that.

One saying I got from a special friend "Up's & downs, Smiles & Frowns" - eh!.

.

pikachucheeks

One of my "living" moments was abseiling in Kerry, when I was sixteen.
My class had to go to on this adventure week and do all sorts of stuff ; camping, orienteering, sailing etc.

We went on a hike up a mountain, then had to abseil down the other side. I'm terrified of heights, but I forced myself to do it. As I was going down, the weight of my bag made me turn upside down. Even the instructor was freaking out, because I'd been one of the most nervous.
I still remember the feeling in my chest ... I felt this amazing rush of panic, then I went completely numb. Nothing was going through my head, other than "finish this thing" so I focused, sorted myself out then continued down to the bottom of the mountain.

Once I was out of the harness, I swore I'd never do it again. But it was an amazing experience and I'm glad I managed to do it! Totally pushed me out of my comfort zone.

Other times I feel alive is when I'm on photoshoots and taking photographs. I love photography. I love trying to capture art and be creative.

Kid Curry

When my big brother chased off an older fella who was picking on me, and then when I stood up to him the next time and got in a fight and won.

burger1979

Doing the death road in bolivia, the drop on one side of the road 1500mts down to the floor, riding on a mountain bike going like the clappers down the road, head over the handle bars to go faster, wind rushing past the face, wife right behind me trying to catch me. thats one moment.

feeling alive though i think has differents meanings and thoughts for everyone. i mean the above is when your heart is racing and adrenalin is pumping aroud you and the thought of danger is close to your mind. whislt as others have stated above feeling alive is when you are close to someone you love and just get lost in that moment. for me another time i felt 'alive' is when i was sitting at home last week again with the wife and just thinking this was great, got my own house, the wife with me, on the couch and didnt want to be any where else.

thats just my 2 cents, i'm Kent Brockman

Fajitas!

Doing business, surprisingly enough (And far more boring than everyone above me :-/ ). I love throwing a quote at people, having to act as confident as ever, but secretly I'm sh*tting bricks because I know if I get it, I'll be living the fine life for another month, if I don't, I'm f*cked - I guess it's a bit like gambling...

Exhibition openings too, I get a really good buzz off them, knowing a few hundred people are there to see what you've been working on for the last few weeks/months/years.

I guess the last time I really felt it was when I was leaving Ireland, I did that cheesy standing on the deck of the boat watching Ireland disappear, knowing that I didn't really know anyone in London, I didn't know what I'd be doing, where I'd be staying, etc.

Yeah, they don't really compare to Mairt's experiences :pac:

Snowie

Oh one thing that really does make me feel alive is working in kitchens as a chef...

GalwayKiefer

Skydiving for the first time. To this day if I close my eyes and think about it I still get the knot in my stomach from sitting at the open door of the plane and the rush of clearing the plane mixed with the "what the f##k did i just jump out of a perfectly good plane for?!" panic in my head. Nothing in the world like it.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Fajitas! wrote: »

Yeah, they don't really compare to Mairt's experiences :pac:

I can indentify with you completely, just because one's experience differ's from other's doesn't mean its any less significant.

Of leaving... I was leaving Lebanon in 1989.

The war was particularly intense back then, sitting in the back of a truck heading out of the hills and your looking north, and its night time (just setting the scene) .. Up along the coast from Tyre to Beirut war raged and a line from a book I'd just finished came to me 'your looking at someone elses war now'.

A few hours later I was back home in Ireland, drinking with the lads and thought for a moment - "That was fvcking mad"

tbh

was rock climbing once, got to the top, sat down and started sliding off towards the edge. right at the last second my arm shot out and grabbed a rock which saved me - hyperextended my shoulder tho. Adrenaline rush after that was insane, I was trembling like a leaf. But I really did feel alive!

A few hours later I was back home in Ireland, drinking with the lads and thought for a moment - "That was fvcking mad"

I can relate - apart from the war bit I've woken up in a bed in India and then that night gone to sleep in my own bed in Ireland, it's kind of trippy

L31mr0d

Adrenaline really doesn't do it for me. In moments of danger I will usually hear a voice in my head in the third person trying to rationalize the situation.

I rarely get scared either, which is probably a bad thing I guess as the fight or flight instincts never really kick in. Like last week I was on a flight that had a pretty bumpy landing (lots of wind shear) and the majority of the cabin had their eyes closed, where gasping, grabbing the arms of the chairs and I was just thinking that all of that isn't going to make the plane land any better. We will either crash or we won't, and my life will either end or it won't.

I guess I feel like I'm alive when I'm with my OH. After a day in work, curling up on the couch, asking her about her day and knowing that even though I've been looking at her for the last 11 years I could continue looking at her for the next 100 without ever growing tired of it.

Herbal Deity

Drugs - esp. first time on strong hallucinogens or magical nights when you stay up all night dancing.

Love - well that's a no brainer.

Having work really pay off - in my case studying extremely hard for difficult exams, but in the end earning a highly desirable title and range of privileges.

Concerts - seeing my favourite band play live in a small intimate venue, when a year earlier there was no prospects of them even reuniting, let alone coming here. Just generally getting to see artists I really admire and respect live.

Sport - scoring my first goal for my soccer team when I was 9 years old, coming 3rd in a schools' cross country race, certain moments when Ireland does well in some sport, be it equalizing against Germany in 2002 or winning the Grand Slam last year.


Just by experiencing as much of what life has to offer as possible, I guess!

metamorphosis

When have i felt most alive .... hmm one or two things spring to mind:

-Performing as a drummer with Riverdance at the Special Olympics opening ceremony 2003 in front of 80,000 people. The rush and adrenaline out on that stage was unreal.

-Running a marathon for the first time ... oh the pain of those last 6 miles

- Placing in the World pipe band championships in Glasgow Green Scotland 2004. 270 odd bands there on the day. Hard work and sacrafice really does pay off.

The Shark

After spending the day kayaking catching some mackerel and cooking them up on a campfire on the beach.
Nice to get back to the basics.
Or standing on the highest point in the mountains covered in snow.
On my first dive in a 2m swell the excitement being washed around in the swell!
Jumping off a sea cliff for the first time and the rush you get straight after it!
Meeting the girl of your dreams for the first time and finding out that she feels the same way!
Thats all I can think of that really stands out in my mind!

nkay1985

Performing on stage. I was going to say for the first time but the rush is amazing every time! Specially after a big, intense number, knowing you've nailed it. There's a split second before the reaction of the crowd and you're just buzzing! Unbelieveable.

Singing solo in front of my year for the first time. There were about 200 people in my year and singing was sometimes thought of as a bit ghey. I was doing it for the performances in front of all the other years but some people were sitting out their own ones. I thought, fúck that. Did it and got a real buzz off it.

Also, giving the speech at the end of our graduation mass in 6th year because at the end, that was it, we were all done forever and the shouting and roaring was just brilliant!

Being in a car crash. Only going 25-30 mph along a road with traffic backed up in the opposite lane when an idiot in a van pulls out across me. Managed to slam on the brakes and swerve so that I went between the van and a wall until there was no more room, then a bit of a bang into him. Then the fúcker drove off. So I felt really alive because of the adrenaline from reacting, and then from tearing after him down the road!

Seeing my dog give birth to puppies recently. Seeing how nature makes it so that she knows exactly what to do! Amazing. I'm sure it doesn't compare to seeing your own child being born but it's pretty damn cool!

burger1979

The Shark wrote: »

On my first dive in a 2m swell the excitement being washed around in the swell!

have to add to my list previous going on my first deep dive in thailand, whale sharks........wonderful nature in full motion

minidazzler

I feel alive whenever I am inches from death! It's weird.

I was running down the road full-pelt one day to meet up with a friend.

I was crossing a street and a van passed at 50 km/h literally 6 inches from my face. I back up like a horse and the adreniline really flowed I thien ran the rest of the way faster than I have ever been able to run.

My last fight, I can't remember when it was, but it felt good. (If one of my "friends" says what I think he is going to say tomorrow night, then there will be a nice little fight methinks!!

Whenever I chat up a girl I actually get a small but nice rush of life!!!

Will

Feel alive when I work, very alive and makes me thankful I am healthy both mentally and physically. Work as a care assistant for people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

I see young and old people who can't walk, talk or feed themselves. Things we don't even think about like putting a spoon in our mouth. It's hard to see a young kid in a wheelchair, through no fault of their own having trouble with simple everyday tasks. Or someone banging their head off a wall for no reason.

On the flip side of all that when you see someone in work having a great day it cancels out all the past ones and you forget about them and live in the moment. Small things like having an extra cup of tea can make people smile from ear to ear and in turn you do Or even getting a hug, or them telling you they like ya. Small things.

Knowing I have them in my care, that they are safe and (mostly) happy makes me feel alive. So regardless if it's a good or bad day, I feel alive.

Sinall

GalKiefer wrote: »

Skydiving for the first time. To this day if I close my eyes and think about it I still get the knot in my stomach from sitting at the open door of the plane and the rush of clearing the plane mixed with the "what the f##k did i just jump out of a perfectly good plane for?!" panic in my head. Nothing in the world like it.

This.

Whoo-yeah! Jumped out of a plane in Oz at 14,000 feet and I was one of the last out. We have a dvd of me shouting "I love you!" to two of the girls who went before me. When it was my turn I couldn't believe I was doing it, then all of a sudden I was out, falling, rushing through the air. My face was being pushed back in the wind and I was gulping in the rushing winds and gasping for air. I remember thinking "F**k, f**k I'm going to die and I PAID to do this, F*CK, there's no way back!"

Once the parachute opened I calmed down and enjoyed the rest of it. Massive, massive adrenaline rushing! Even thinking about it now makes me relive it and gets the heart pounding!

davmol

Swimming near santa clarita island off california and throwing a sponge american football between myself and my friend a long distance from teh coast and feeling a swooosh under my feet.Looking down and seeing a large white body very similar to a great white sharks shape passing under me.Absolutely sh1tting myself and swimming fast to the coast,stopping every 50 meteres or so and looking back around to see if its was coming back on me.My mate and me swimming like fish back to the coast and me hearing the theme tune from jaws playing in my head.

When we reached the coast we laughed hysterically more out of shock than humour.My legs shook uncontrollably for about 20 mins after.major fear of deep water now!!

Crumble Froo

awesome thread, kudos to khannie and everyone who's contributed.

i know i was going through a rough time when i first met my partner, and he'd often say that it's just life giving us a kick, making sure we're still alive. one of those concepts i often apply to coping with things going wrong.

some of my most alive moments happen in nature. surfing, nothing like the feeling of catching a wave, and *not* wiping out, or not getting thrashed by it. this one's especially amazing if you've been thrashed around the whole surf by these waves, but man, the feeling of paddling with everything you've got to catch a wave, feel it catch you, then the vertical drop in front of you, where it's get to your ****ign feet, or you're gonna get mangled... nothing beats the feeling of getting outta that one standing.

another is rock climbing, i do it a bit here, and just leaving all civilisation, just me and a mate, no ropes or anything, just so beautiful out there, but it's always the moments that you slip, or the rocks crumble that really get me. just that split second where your eyes widen, your heartrate doubles and adrenaline kicks in to get you the **** out of there, it's just incredible. incredible feeling.

another one recently was at a NOFX gig, i had spent all my money on a ticket to it (plus return flights, plus accommodation, plus some drinks beforehand), and just that feeling of being part of such a passionate crowd, everyone singing, dancing and moshing along. it was just amazing, particularly as it was one of those golden moshey crowds where you bloody had to hold your own, but if someone went down, they were picked up instantly.

another moment, me and three mates were drinking, listening to music and painting. we were painting our own pics and kinda collaborating on each others' pics and it was just such an awesome feeling of togetherness and friendship and expression and just all sorts of awesomeness. created some bloody good art too. i can remember watching two of the others collaborating on one piece, while another was sat on a couch singing along to a song, and i was looking at mine thinking wow, that looks good, and just thinking... wow, this is what it's all about.

RunHomerRun

So I was listening to that song by the Eels there the other day. Crackin' tune. If you don't know it, it starts out like this:

"Do you know what it's like to fall on the floor and cry your guts out 'til you got no more?....Hey man....Now you're really living."

And I thought about it a bit and I think actually it's probably really true. The real highs and lows of life are when you feel most alive.

So....when in your life did you feel like you were most alive?

Too tired to share my "most alive times"

But - Khannie - based on the fact that this thread started due to you listening to a Eels song - to get a full flavour of lifes ups and downs - I'd highly recommend you read the book by the Eels lead singer;

Mark Oiliver Everett : Things the Grandchildren Should Know

The mans an eccentric musical genius

Khannie

RunHomerRun wrote: »

I'd highly recommend you read the book by the Eels lead singer;

Mark Oiliver Everett : Things the Grandchildren Should Know

Sold!

RunHomerRun wrote: »

The mans an eccentric musical genius

Agreed. I'm not mad into music to be honest, but he really strikes me as a musical genius.

RunHomerRun

Agreed. I'm not mad into music to be honest, but he really strikes me as a musical genius. /QUOTE]

The book is not as much focused on his (The Eels) music, but is more an autobiography - and man.....he really has lots of lifes ups and downs

Khannie

RunHomerRun wrote: »

The book is not as much focused on his (The Eels) music, but is more an autobiography - and man.....he really has lots of lifes ups and downs

Yeah, I've heard about some of it alright. I think that's what makes his music so brilliant. I'd say that without his misfortune he wouldn't be such a talent.

Khannie

RunHomerRun wrote: »

But - Khannie - based on the fact that this thread started due to you listening to a Eels song - to get a full flavour of lifes ups and downs - I'd highly recommend you read the book by the Eels lead singer;

Mark Oiliver Everett : Things the Grandchildren Should Know

The mans an eccentric musical genius

So on your recommendation I bought this over Christmas. Reading it at the moment. *Very* interesting stuff.

RunHomerRun

Khannie wrote: »

So on your recommendation I bought this over Christmas. Reading it at the moment. *Very* interesting stuff.

Its a good while, so I can't remember the ins and out of the book.

Good stuff Khannie - I hope your enjoying it.

A quiet one

minidazzler wrote: »

I feel alive whenever I am inches from death! It's weird

Yep, that tends to do it, but if you get that bit closer to death you get to feel alive for the rest of your life. If you survive that is.

So, you're there, lying on some no-man's land, you're seriously injured and can't move. There's no one to call to for help and you wont be found for about a month.
Sure, in a couple of days this-one or that-one might notice you're not around. But even if they look, they wont know where and they'll never find you in time.

In the meantime you know you're probably dying. You feel it start as your body begins to slowly surrender itself. And along with that your thoughts run over things, like friendships, contracts, work, even your aspiration for the future and what ever importance you had held dear with these.. it just ebbs away. It leaves you; It flows out of you;
And then you see something, maybe a bumble bee, or something about the vegetation around you, or even just the clouds and you remember the first time you noticed it when you were a kid and you just know, this it it. You're ready, you're at peace with it and in fact all you can feel by now is the most awesome sense of peace and oh, but it is so seductive, but you know that if you let it take you...
So you work and work and fight and fight until you can raise some sort of alarm.

Then fast forward many years to the future, You're sitting down. You're watching telly. They're showing 3 men in a boat; You're OH is nearby and the cat is sound asleep on your lap and man, but do you feel so alive.:D

Mackman

Great thread, its amazing what life can throw at you sometimes.
Ive never had any serious life threatening insidents, but i have felt alive on a few occasions.

Absailing down a gorge in the bush in Australia, the first time i went down, my heart was pounding, my mind was racing, and as i backed over the edge i just kept repeating "sh*t shi*t sh*t sh*t" in my head and then i went over the edge it was a huge rush of adrenaline. When i got to the bottom my legs were shaking and i couldnt stop smiling. so much fun

Skiing in France, lamping it down a red slope at full tilt, legs bouncing all over the shop, right on the edge of loosing control, but holding it together long enough to reach the bottom.

Myself and the OH sitting at a campsite in Eden (NSW) after driving around 2000klms, watching the sunset, having a beer, totally at peace. No pressure to get anywhere the next day, not a care in the world.:)

Its true about the bad times too, when something devastating happens in your life, you feel everything x1000 and it almost destroys you. Yet you continue on, and more often than not, you have a new appreciation for life afterwards.

Tar.Aldarion

blender to the penis, felt pretty alive

rivermetimbers

i did the 3rd biggest bungee jump in the world in NZ a few years ago, now that was livin... pullin off a big bluff in a game of poker really gets the juices goin too!

DazMarz

I have to agree with the OP: the big highs and the big lows of life are when the real, true, raw emotions can come racing to the surface and we feel more alive then than ever before...

Some of my choice ones (highs first!):

-Seven years old and I saw my beloved Dubs lift Sam Maguire in 1995. Invading the pitch with my father, seeing Jason Sherlock hoisted onto men's shoulders, holding the cup aloft... Tears in my eyes thinking about it.

-Dublin winning 5-in-a-row Leinster Titles this year (but sadly no All-Ireland since the fateful day mentioned above)

-Chelsea lifting the Premier League Trophy in 2005 with the win over Bolton with 3 games left to play. Wasn't able to be at that match, but was over the moon.

-Watching Chelsea play Liverpool in Stamford Bridge with a friend of mine this season was energising in the extreme.

-Winning a poker tournament with over 100 players in it and collecting €4,000 prize money was very, very sweet.

And now the lows (more of them it appears...):

-Dublin being torn apart and picked clean by Tyrone in 2008 and Kerry in 2009 All Ireland Quarter Finals. Both times on the Hill, soaked through the first time, both times in tears by the final whistle. Agony.

-John Terry slips and misses his penalty in the 2008 Champions League Final. Lads I was with said they could nearly literally pinpoint the moment my heart ripped in half.

-Andrés Iniesta scores a 92nd minute away goal in the 2009 Champions League semi-final to send Chelsea out. Again, lads who knew me said it was as if I was going into arrest: pale face, cold sweats... I was just inconsolable.

-Going out of my way, bending over backwards and going to an awful lot of trouble to secure a ticket for Chelsea v. Manchester United, booking flights and so on for a person for their birthday, only to have them complain, gripe and bitch the whole time about everything (the seat in the stadium was crap, the beer was warm, the flight was late, the crowds were huge...). And the thoughts of what I would have done to have gone to that match myself, I sacrificed my ticket to give someone the birthday present I thought was perfect, only to have it f*cked back in my face.

-Walking through Anne Frank's house/museum in Amsterdam... Very haunting and unnerving experience. Really was one of the most poignant moments of my life.

-

fitz0

The first time I went caving. I'm not brilliant with tight spaces but I had no choice to to keep going as the cave got lower and lower and narrower and narrower until I was crawling on my belly through a space a bit wider than my computer monitor but no higher. That was cool.

Climbing the climbing wall in Larkin college, got to the top (10 or 12m) and asked the lad "Do I just descend on this rope?" No, I had to climb sideways over to the other rope and descend on it. It was my first time doing any form of rock climbing, I'd only done rope work before, and I didn't realize until then just how terrified of heights I was!

I'm really glad I faced those two fears, both gave me an awesome rush.

During my last project before Christmas I slept maybe 8 hours in 5 days, the last two nights getting no sleep whatsoever just to get the project finished. I felt unbelievably good when I finished it, like I would definately do brilliant in it. It was a great feeling. The subsequent all-nighter hangover and crushing disappointment of having the single worst presentation in my college life was also one of the worst feelings Ive ever had.

Also the Eels are awesome.

OldGoat

Khannie wins.
/Thread

EL_Loco

(grats again Khannie)

I've just posted on the organ donation thread. So, as stated I've been lucky enough to receive a transplant. I had a kidney that was slowly failing by degrees since infancy, the other got taken out completely. I was 23 when it came to a head and I needed to get put on the transplant list. Because it was a slow decline I didn't really notice the symptoms too much.

The whole time the doctors were telling me "you'll have far more energy when you get a transplant, you'll feel alot better" I used to sit there thinking I was feeling ok. I was extemely lucky also that my statistics stablised right on the cusp of requiring dialysis. I count myself hugely lucky to have received my donation before dialysis was required.

So, let me describe as best I can, the feeling I had post operation. I had lapsed in and out of consciousness a few times, to the clan at the bedside. My brother asking me questions like "what's our home telephone number?" He's an awful messer, but when I answered correctly he stated with authority "he's grand". But when I did wake up properly it was unbeliveable. I was sore of course, with a nice manly scar down my right side, with metal staples holding it all together. But under the twinge of pain I felt fantastic, it was as if someone had sharpened the image, turned up the contrast. The couple of hours with a new fully functioning kidney had made a huge difference. Those doctors do know what they're talking about sometimes So there I was, literally, Living!

BumbleB

I had a retinal detachment from playing rugby a few years ago.I started seeing blurry on the friday went to the eye and ear and they said they would operate on the monday.

Sunday came my field of vision had decreased to what you see on a widescreen movie .Monday came and I couldn't see anything ,I was panicking ,they decided to operate straight away because I was very uneasy ,so they put me under anaesthetic early performed the op .I was in bandages for a long time .

After 6 months I took off the bandages and I could see perfectly .I ran out to the flowers and looked at the trees and the birds and everything looked sooo beautiful .

I could not believe it .My eye is scarred for life but I don't care .I still don't believe to this day that they could get my eyesight back so good . The marvel of modern medicine.I'm a very happy camper.:)

steve_oh

Smoking a spliff and reading the alchemist, sittin on the balcony of my hut on the beach in thailand connected to the energy of the universe and in love with life. Its been 3 years and I'm still pumped.