I turned 61 in July and seriously thought about quitting during the summer. I suffered a wrist injury last October and bowled the rest of the year in pain and with a big loss of strength in it. During that time I made adjustments to get by with the discomfort. Those adjustments changed my game to a point I'm having trouble getting back to where I was before the injury. I'm struggling to stay above 180 in average and would cash it in if it wouldn't leave my team short. It would, so I can't. I used to live, eat and breath bowling. I had a career change 3 years ago and my job is very challenging which also moves bowling farther back in my life. I wish every week the old me would show up and get the fire burning again, but it doesn't look like it will happen. I still love the game but just can't show up every week and just throw the ball. All this makes me understand why someone has such a hard time quitting.
Yes, exactly.
I used to eat, sleep, and practically live, bowling. If I wasn’t doing it, I was thinking about doing it, and planning my next outing. Back in the day (the late 1990’s), I even toyed with going pro. I was at the top of my game, averaged about 220 (with urethane), and was kicking butts. Then, my life changed.
My “career†changed, and I had to completely stop bowling for three years. When I got to come back, resin had basically taken over. I had, in the interim, become the analog man in a digital world type character. Life had kicked my feet out from under me, then totally changed when I wasn’t looking, lol.
20 something years later, I still love bowling, but I ain’t who I once was, and finally had to admit that “my†heyday had come and gone. Once I was able to do that, I was able to just bowl with my friends, enjoy it for what it is, not rotate my life totally around bowling, and be as happy as possible.
It has been a frustrating trip at times, but it has been worth it, at least to me. With my job changes, I’ve had to change bowling centers, and now, I drive 150 miles round trip to bowl in my league, because I have to bowl on either Friday or Saturday night, and the only league I could find at the time was in Dallas, Tx, 75 miles away.
Good luck my compadre, and don’t give up. I often think I might, but really know that I dread the day I have to. It has been a part of me for so long, I think I would be lost without it.
