It was time for a change

[DF]

  Let me start by saying I feel rather embarrassed about this and have no idea what is compelling me to tell it to strangers but here we go. I have always been a show up to work on time, pay your bills kinda guy, but have for years had a bad habit left over from my days in an unsuccessful rock band, one that is only legal in a few states, and for years have wanted to stop but never could or never wanted to enough.  Now here is where it might get a bit corny... I joined this forum a short time ago with a post asking if this hobby was for me and everyone was so nice that I felt like the Grinch when his heart grows after hearing the Whos singing. (I know, corny right) Well to start another hobby I needed money, so I looked around my cave at my guitars and thought about selling them and then it came to me, there was something else from my rock days I could get rid of....my bad habit! So thats  what I did and I feel a giant weight has been lifted from me.  With the money I have saved I was able to order a start up kit from Do-It/ CCM and it should be here any day now, I cant wait to get started.  It was time for a change...Though I think I may be starting a new addiction!! At least I will not have to hide this one.

    Thank you all!!!

[MO QWACK]

First off attaboy, I know old habits are hard to break, and I comment you for realizing some thing had to go. I myself have a very OCD and  addictive personality . Luckily mine is fishing and related activities. It kept me out of trouble and on the right path many of times. I was lucky that God gifted me with a wife that I love and loves me for who I am because fishing was the root cause of ending all my relationships in the past. I still struggle with putting God and family first but I do realize I  have to control it not let it control me.
  As far as this site goes, I feel if you surround yourself with good people and good things God will allow you to prosper and give you strength in weaker times. This site is my "bar" its where my like minded buddies hang out and let me tell ya there are some top notch folks here! This site has helped me on a personal level far more than on a lure making one.
  I can't wait to see some killers pop out of those new molds! I'm sure I speak of most of us we are here to help any way we can

[ctom]

Good for you!

Keep in mind that this board and its forums is a family. In all of the years of posting other boards I can honestly say that none have the type of camaraderie that Do-It's board has and that these hobby-mates are first class. You need to talk? Speak and if you want it out of sight, pm people. Good people here. And when I say that we're a family, I say that believing it myself.

[toadfrogbaits]

DF welcome . All of us have something that we could stand to change . I have smoked since I was 8 yrs old snipping butts from ash trays . Folks beat my tail until they gave up . Have quit for several years only to go back again . From what they tell me now it's probably going to kill me . I haven't quit yet . My hat is off to you for having the will and the fortitude to stop . Every time you get the hankering REMEMBER we are all pulling for ya.

[DF]

  Thank you for letting me share and for your support!! To be free from the shame I felt all these years feels so good I don't know what took me so long. I guess it was the right time.  I will try to keep my posts more relevant to this forum from now on. Again I thank you for giving me a kind ear and not a cold shoulder.

[Denny Welch]

Three packs a day for a lot of years.  I quit about 20 years ago and I'm still hacking things up every now and again.

And a great big DITTO to all you guys re the forum.  It's a pretty difficult emotion to express.  Learning and sharing all the information we do is wonderful, but participation in this forum goes a lot further than that.  For me, it provides a sense of camaraderie .  I feel secure in knowing that whatever the issue might be, I'm going to get good, solid advice from close friends I've never met.  That advice might relate to fishing, or to God, or to just about anything else.  It doesn't get a whole lot better than that.

[BareKnuckleJigs]

I quit smoking about 4 months ago, myself.  One of the best decisions I've ever made.  Cigarettes (LH or Regular) are expensive, harmful, offensive, wasteful...all negatives, zero positives.

My hat's off to You, DF Sir, for KNUCKLIN' UP and beating that thing like it was trying to kill You.

[Billmo]

I'm with a lot of these guys, smoked 1 1/2 - 2 packs a day.  So I quit smoking and started making plastic to keep myself busy. What a great trade!!! 

Way to go DF!!    "applause inserted here"

[smalljaw]

I'm happy you found something better to do with your time and money and once you get the hang of it, well a new addiction will start but it is a good one. I know how hard habits are to break, I'm going on my 3rd year since I quit smoking, and I was addicted bad, how bad you ask? I have cancer, I would get done my chemotherapy and my wife would come to pick me up and as soon as I got in the car I would light up. Yep, smoking while being treated for cancer, but my cancer is in remission and I quit smoking and with the money I save I use it for new Do-it molds and hooks and hair, and weed guard and everything else. That is the other part of the new addiction, if you are going the soft plastic route, well, you'll get consumed by color, and it will pop up in your everyday life, you'll see a cool color on a car and it will force your mind into thinking how you can match it foe a new color swimbait or the tail of a ribbon worm. You will have every size and color of glitter imaginable and 1 mold will turn into 35 so fast you won't remember when it happened or how it happened but you will love every minute of it!!!! I thank God my wife understands and she doesn't mind, well she does give me the "eye" when a box from UPS shows up at the door with 2 molds, 8 buck tails, 4 packs of flash, 5 bags of feathers a pack of 50 base hole pins, and 3 skeins of chenille, but she quickly gets over it, and that is good because she still doesn't know that it is only the first box of 3 ordered..... Yes, you will like it and let me welcome you to your new home as you will be here a lot learning the craft. Good luck and remember to let us see your creations!!!!

[WALLEYE WACKER]

 DF Glade to have you. You find how much joy it brings into your life when you catch your first fish with a bait that you made and that's when the addiction start's. mike

[CrabbyBass]

Welcome to the board DF! Glad you joined us. I never got into the habit that is "only legal in a few states,"but like many others I was a smoker. Gave it up as both my grandpas died of emphysema from smoking. Plus my wife made me. Hardest thing I have ever done, but the best decision I ever made. I guess the best decision my wife ever made for me. LOL! Like everyone else has said, we are one big family here. We are here for each other whenever someone needs an uplifting. You need prayers, we got you covered. You need help making plastics, we are here to help. Also, once you get addicted to making plastics, don't hesitate to ask if someone has a mold you have your eyes on. People are usually more than willing to send you a few samples of a lure. This way you can see it in person and test it out on your locals waters to see if you like it or not. Don't forget, once you get your starter kit, WE WANT PICTURES!!! LOL!  Welcome again and I hope you enjoy your stay!

Chuck

[Brent]

  DF,
I'm glad that you found Do-It mold and this forum, reading the comments someone mention family, even with the fact someone us have never met each other, we have built relationships and trust that is equal to that of a family. I sometimes scroll the post and one of the things that pop into my head is the "Home Improvement " TV show, where Tim Allen always goes to the back yard fence and speaks to Wilson about things happening in life looking for advise.
 I think we all have a little Tim Allen in us, and at times a little Wilson too. Now where the heck are the Do-It (tool time) Girls??