What is one thing you've done for a long time that you never thought you'd even do for a short time?

teaching… now for 29 years

fluther!
been here for 4 days and i actually just wanted to stay here for a minute or two when i first started out
i’m so addicted to this!

Two and a half years ago I didn’t think I would ever use any recreational drug.

In the past three years I’ve become somewhat of a chemist. Never ever ever thought this would be what I was doing.

@petethepothead – Hahahaha!!

Improv. I started training in it in 2005 for a lark, to meet guys and to have something to do after work. It’s taken its place as something I have to do for myself to engage my creativity and I can’t not do it for very long. I think karate is going to end up the same way for me. I never thought I’d do anything of the sort.

Being committed to a long distance relationship.
I never would have thought I’d have the… strength? to pull off long distance.
and an off and on (the long distance part) relationship 3 years later,
well, I can’t imagine any other choice now.

Working in a cubicle in an office run by greyfaces.

Teaching: Ten years now.
Photography: Six years now.

I never thought I would do either professionally.

ha well to tell you the truth, iv’e been skatin for about a 6 year now, but wen i started i never thought id even last a month

Six months ago I thought I would never join a gym. Not only have I joined the gym, I actually go to the gym! I have lost 40 lb. and amd getting some pipes! Woohoo!

Live outside New England. I’ve been in California now for 32 years. Ah, love.

Congratulations on your anniversary, @Sueanne_Tremendous! Was Fluther one of those things for you?

Completely agree with Pete:
“Two and a half years ago I didn’t think I would ever use any recreational drug”

I never thought I’d end up marrying a woman. I never thought I had the strength to live such a life. We are going on 8 years now.

Living without makeup! Up until about a year ago, I wouldn’t even leave my dorm room for a drink without slapping on some foundation. Then I got sick of paying for it, wasting the time, etc. and frequent reassurances from my boyfriend convinced me to go without. Now I rarely even think about it! (And my skin is better as a result!)

I never thought I would be a badass for as long as I have.

Smoke.

Congrats for one year on Fluther, Sueanne_Tremendous!

Be medication free. I thought I’d be on them the rest of my life, but I was able to come off of them and not need them for two years and seven months so far. knocks on wood

be on anti-depressants

Be a stay-at-home mother. 14 years now.

Congrats Sueanne!

In spite of the fact that everyone else in my extended family has worked with computers for over thirty years, I never even touched one until about three years ago. I couldn’t imagine myself being on the darn thing all day every day, just like everybody else.

Congrats, Sueanne! My one-year Fluther anniversary is next week. :D

And I have to think about this question and come back to it. I can’t think of anything… Any time I start something, it’s with the intent to do it FOREVER so if I’ll do something once, it’s never a surprise when I’m still doing it a decade later.

Live in California. The whole time I was growing up, CA seemed so far away, especially from my family in Pennsylvania – I never would have believed that I’d move there after college and stay for seven years! Of course, we’re back in PA near my family now, so my first assessment was right in the end – but it was good to live somewhere else for a while!

Just like backinflow, teaching. Not doing it right now, but may pick it up again.

jonsblond.

When I first met her I figured she was way out of my league.

i was right but don’t anyone say anything…she hasn’t noticed yet

I never dreamed of being a massage therapist (touching gross naked people? Yuck!) but I fell into it, went to school for it and now I LOVE doing it!

@ubersiren: There must be some not-so-gross naked people – no?

what I’m saying here is, are there any perks?

@cprevite : Hahaha… yeah, there are non gross people, too. After the first few clients in school, anyone on the table is just another body. Some bodies are easier to work with (average sized people with no body hair and no medical dangers to avoid), but there’s nothing that really grosses me out. Unless there’s a festering boil, which I have yet to encounter.

Yoga.
Except in school, I never even exercised for 40 years. One day, I woke up and ran a 5k. Six months later, I went to a yoga class with my wife. She never went back, and I’ve been going regularly ever since. Now, I’m going multiple times a day and dropped almost 50 pounds and almost 80 points off my cholesterol. I cannot imagine NOT doing yoga today.

Hunting.
I never cared much for guns, but I liked to shoot paper when somebody else had one. I never thought of killing anything with one because it just didn’t seem fair. When I was given a bow and learned to use it, I suddenly had the desire to hunt with it. The challenge called to me. In addition, I get to be out in nature, blending with it, and getting close to the animals in the wild.

Now, I love hunting, and prefer to kill my own meat rather than support large-scale animal farming. In fact, when I am unsuccessful in getting meat with my bow, I am faced with buying meat from the store. I’d rather hunt a free animal with a rifle than buy a piece of a potentially inhumanely raised/slaughtered beast from the market.

@Blondesjon nice

Cross dressing (but only in private)

@Bluefreedom I would pay good money to see you in a dress. :)

@augustlan. I’ll send you a picture. And for you, it’s free. =)

@Bluefreedom That’s hot.

Mmm. Pictures.

Playing piano. My mother made me take lessons at age 7 and I was so pissed. I’ve been playing for over 20 years.

@essieness: Ooh, I so want to play piano. Will you teach me?

@essieness Me, too! Me, too!

@ru2bz46 : You must have been doing something to stay fit for 40 years if you just woke up and ran a 5k. That’s just not normal, for crying out loud! Tell me your secret!

@cprevite @augustlan Sure, if you wanna come to Texas :)

Stayed marrried. ;)

@ubersiren It is a bit weird, I admit. I would coat everything in hog fat to improve flavor, but the weight only crept up slowly and not until I started archery. I gained two shirt sizes and 35 pounds in two years, though my waist didn’t change; it was all upper body. I hadn’t run since high school gym class. I did lose the 35 pounds I gained in those two years in just 5 weeks by reducing my carbs and moving them to the first half of the day. Three inches came off my waist. I lost muscle in the process because I wasn’t exercising at all. I felt good though, and that’s when I ran the 5k. It took me 35 minutes, and I hurt for a week afterward, but I think it triggered something in me. I finally had the desire to improve my total health. Finding yoga fulfilled that desire.

Masturbate.

I’m hypoglycemic with a killer sweet tooth, especially Snickers candy bars lol. Now I feel sick at the smell of sugar when I walk into a bakery or past the candy section and water is even sweet.

Seven years ago I thought I had a bad burrito or something like that. Turns out I had a stroke and have been sitting on my butt ever since. In that time I’ve gotten hooked on the internet and all the information at my fingertips. Some good, Lots of bad.

Online: Fluther, Facebook, Twitter. Never thought I’d stick to it. Tried blogging – not for me. IRL: quit smoking.