Losing Desire (long, but proper paragragh structure, sorry)

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Personally, I've never lost the desire, but it seems to me that you've go not problem here.

Pool is one of many offerings on life's menu, and as you've found something else that is very fulfilling, there's nothing wrong here. One's fascinations and priorties in life change over time, but ultimately, what matters is that one finds fulfilling and rewarding pursuits.

Perhaps you will play pool only occasionally from now on, or perhaps you'll get the pool bug again. My sense is that it doesn't really matter. I think you're in a good place in your life, and that you should trust your instincts.

As far as I'm concerned, yours is an uplifting post.

dude, what's your problem... working and being successful and then relaxing during your vacation? a-hole. You need to be doing drills!!@!@!!!!!

But seriously... even SEX can lose its appeal temporarily. If the desire to scrog can go away and it's considered natural, pool never stood a chance.

It's normal and will pass. Or won't. Either way don't sweat it.
You may find the fun comes back if you're playing a friend in a pool hall vs. banging 'em around at home.

The thinking mans pool game

JDB said:

I find that I would rather do linear programming problems than play pool.

Any ideas on how to get the desire back?

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The answer is simple my friend....You need to play ONE POCKET - once you learn how to play ONE POCKET well, you'll never want to do linear programming problems again.

Its ok you can tell us your wife will not allow you out to play pool.

Several of us have that same problem. Its better you be honest with us so that we can help you.

I too have lost the desire to play pool because it does not advance the interests of my wife.

There are no howevers, or buts for me.

Aside from this post I have not seen my pool junkies in a while.
I could imagine my wife laughs about this with her friends all the time, thinking how great she is for taming my "wild side."

Masters degree>>>job>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>pool.

i turned my back on pool for along time, i had to do something with my life so for a 3-4 year period i hardly hit a ball, then I put a box in my house and played some but not serious, i devloped a sever back disease and couildnt got to the gym anymore, i got into body building when i stopped pool, i was awalys a player at heart I never lost that but I never heard of Cory Duael(SP?) until last year, thats how far removed I was from pool. When I came back to pool I was and still do have serious back problems but I came back fast,

I started to play good after a sugery-full of drugs, real good for not playing for a year, because my mind was clear when I stopped playing to do something with my life I was a good player who couldnt win, play good etc my mind was else where. When I say good its relitave there isnt a B player in the world that can beat me but i am perhaps the weakest A player on a good day. I can see my game improve every week now like never before. i did have one set back a month ago I came back from Brazil and was sick and was playing terrible for 3-4 weeks now i'm ok.

thats my story, pool will awalys be there and you dont have to play all the time, there have been great champions in the past that have taken long lay-offs, Crown City cory knows who they are, if he sees this he will post them up, he put the beating of my life on me when I was sick a few weeks ago-but now I'm ready for him-I hope I win a rack next time. Ouch that hurt.


just do what you have to do and forget pool, i have got reaquinted with people i havent spoke to for 15-20 years and we just picked up where we left off, you wont miss anything

Klopek said:

FWIW, I took a six month hiatus after my mom died, spent the previous three years caring for her, and it was the best thing for me.

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I did the same thing, my mom had cancer and died after almost 3 years, i'm an only child and was there 110% mom was my best friend, that was the toughest thing I ever did. I'm proud of being there but man it was brutal, i still have nightmares, but no guilt, i'm proud that I was there and did everything possible, just like my mom did for me. I took 6 months off from life after that. I didnt have any fight left in me after losing her. Now i'm stronger than ever-that strength was my moms last gift to me, I just realized that.i gotta go cry....

Kinda with SJM on this one. I disagree with the title of the thread. It doesn't sound like you've really lost anything. Even after you finish the Masters, maybe you'll find yourself interested in something completely new. There doesn't need to be any reason to "have" to feel one way or the other about pool.

The cool thing is that you are moving forward with your life in general. No loss there!

The funny thing is that I'm a construction project manager, and when I have a couple intense days that I'm either crunching some numbers, studying drawings, or putting a complex schedule together, I'm not that crazy about playing pool. I'd rather play guitar for a while or watch a movie to relax. But if I'm doing a lot of intense conversational stuff, negotiating, meetings, basically talking a lot, etc, a couple peaceful hours practicing on the table alone really feels good for the soul. Kind of helps balance me out.

Good luck with your degree!

Jim,
You shoot too good to completely give up the game. Maybe a prolonged break would be good for you though. Focus on that Master's degree and get your career in order. Everything else will eventually fall into place. I wouldn't ever get rid of the table though. It would probably be something you would regret later. Good luck with your future, for sure. And....it was sure nice gettin' an ass-whoopin' from you that one Sunday afternoon at Volcano's (and hell, you were even using a borrowed cue. To pour salt into the wound, you borrowed it from me!!!).

Maniac

no loss

i went thru a simaler thing about 16 years ago. i was playing 8-12 hours a day. on the road for weeks at a time. into pool and gambling as much as you could be. i then met an awsome women and fell head over heels in love. i even sold my cue at the glass city open to help finance a wedding ring. we got married, had a beautiful daughter, got a job and bought a house. after about 3 years the urge to play came back. wanted to real bad. so i did. never got any headache from it. wife was fine with it. i still was on and off. got frustrated not playing how i used to. quit and go back. i then came to terms with what was really important. family. got my head straight. now i play maybe 2-4 times a week and have gotton to play better than i ever did. says alot about the mental part of the game. i have a bad knee problem but i still play.plus i have won a little exstra money along the way that helps out.the guy i used to run around with on the road told me when he saw me after getting married , that i used to always want to be around pool, tried to make me feel guilty that i don't take trips anymore. i told him theres more to life than the road for me, but for him it was his choice. it doesn't matter what you have to do, the desire will come back when your ready. hope it makes sense and don't sweat it/

buck15 said:

i went thru a simaler thing about 16 years ago. i was playing 8-12 hours a day. on the road for weeks at a time. into pool and gambling as much as you could be. i then met an awsome women and fell head over heels in love. i even sold my cue at the glass city open to help finance a wedding ring. we got married, had a beautiful daughter, got a job and bought a house. after about 3 years the urge to play came back. wanted to real bad. so i did. never got any headache from it. wife was fine with it. i still was on and off. got frustrated not playing how i used to. quit and go back. i then came to terms with what was really important. family. got my head straight. now i play maybe 2-4 times a week and have gotton to play better than i ever did. says alot about the mental part of the game. i have a bad knee problem but i still play.plus i have won a little exstra money along the way that helps out.the guy i used to run around with on the road told me when he saw me after getting married , that i used to always want to be around pool, tried to make me feel guilty that i don't take trips anymore. i told him theres more to life than the road for me, but for him it was his choice. it doesn't matter what you have to do, the desire will come back when your ready. hope it makes sense and don't sweat it/

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man that sums up my story too, play less and better because everything else is settled in your life, I didnt like the direction my life was heading and my play reflected it, now I have only been back at it 20% compaired to "back in the day" and am improving at a steady pace, i'm not where I was but will be soon and will be playing better than ever, i can feel it. When your not happy in life it comes out playing-unless you dont give a shit about your future-i do.

JDB said:

I am just wondering how many of you just lost desire at some point in your pool playing career.

My life has been pretty tumultuous over the last 5 - 6 years because I moved from Baltimore to Minnesota, back to near Baltimore, and then to Dallas, Texas. All of the moves were job related.

I think that my job has taken a much bigger priority in my life than pool. I also just started going back to complete my Masters degree after a 2 year hiatus and I find that I would rather do linear programming problems than play pool.

To put it in perspective, and not go into too much detail, I have been on vacation for the last week and a half and I have played approximately 3 racks of pool and I have a 9 foot pool table in my house. However, I have spent countless hours on solving linear programming problems because that is my current class in my Master Degree program.

Has anyone else lost the desire and just given up pool? That seems to be where I am at right now... Any ideas on how to get the desire back?

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I think you should give up pool for good.. and cement that in your life by giving your table to me. PM me with your address and I will drop by and relive you of your burden .. LOL

seriously it will pass, do what you want to do and you will begin playing pool again when you want to. or not.. who cares ?... are you Happy with your life???

Do what feels good today and don't worry about it.

I have pretty much quit commenting on the board but could not resist this one. Consider why you play. Seems that some here have full time serious careers, yet they continue to play.

For me pool is a diversion. After being lost three deep in a do loop for six hours your body needs a break. It is good exercise with none of the other draw backs (unless you have a basketball hoop in your basement). My indoor swimming pool cost far too much money and it is boring though necessary. I walk for miles playing pool.

I assume that you have done some serious programming over some period of time and now find that most people are anything but logical. Most of them are simply irritating and so quiet time is needed. Perhaps you too find that you need a break from the world. When I play the whole world is tuned out and I am lost in a small space that has no life changing consequences.

Playing pool is one of the few things in life that relaxes and requires a different kind of concentration. It is one of the few places where you can compete with yourself and you never quite win. I have the most "fun" when I play alone.

So if you need to relax, like a challenge, and find that you prefer logical challenges, why give up pool playing. BTW if you read between the lines, I think that you will find that there are many people on this board who make their living in the world of computers or similar types of work that require much cognitive skill and concentration-- why is that? While it may not fit the macho comments so often made or implied, there is a whole world of pool for the thinking person.

hey joe, I noticed that. So I did some digging and saw that thread where you argued with shootingarts etc.

I wanted to say... don't let a single thread or argument or poster get you down on the whole thing, you're too smart for that. Or maybe you're the smart one and the rest of us are dumb for plugging away in a bad forum atmosphere, lol... But I took a break from azb for a month and it worked well for me, I feel pretty much positive about the site and can enjoy it again.

You don't seem truly quit on it, and that's a good thing, as there are people who like to read your posts.