[Hoss]

When I was 17 I made a handshake deal that reserved office space until my 18th birthday when I signed the lease and opened my business.

That's so cool! what type of business, how did/is it doing:

It started as IT and was strong for about 2 years, but I had some major bumps along the way. Currently I'm restructuring and decided how I want to proceed, this past May was the 4 year anniversary. It's turned more into a software company than an IT company at this point.

[DareEviler]

My mother died

I've experienced something very similar.

As such, the little things I used to stress over, are no longer part of the equation.
Family always comes first.

I guess that makes you and me (like they say) mamma's boys!
I hope you are doing fine.

[DareEviler]

My mother died and my girlfriend and I broke up. Since then I've viewed life a little differently, namely not getting too emotional over things. Before that I was quite into monogamous relationships.

That's sad to hear, hope everything goes well.

All is well now thanks. I do at times miss my mother! Hence Norman.

[mothered]

My mother died

I've experienced something very similar.

As such, the little things I used to stress over, are no longer part of the equation.
Family always comes first.

I guess that makes you and me (like they say) mamma's boys!
I hope you are doing fine.

Thank you.

As expected, It was difficult at first but as they say, time heals all wounds,
Hope all Is well on your end too.

[DareEviler]

I've experienced something very similar.

As such, the little things I used to stress over, are no longer part of the equation.
Family always comes first.

I guess that makes you and me (like they say) mamma's boys!
I hope you are doing fine.

Thank you.

As expected, It was difficult at first but as they say, time heals all wounds,
Hope all Is well on your end too.

Time will never be able to heal this wound buddy! Never.
Have a great weekend.

[mothered]

I guess that makes you and me (like they say) mamma's boys!
I hope you are doing fine.

Thank you.

As expected, It was difficult at first but as they say, time heals all wounds,
Hope all Is well on your end too.

Time will never be able to heal this wound buddy! Never.
Have a great weekend.

You too.

[reGEN]

A few years ago, I was taught the basics of C programming and after the realization of knowing that I could utilize it to develop hacking tools, I finally leveled up from a script kiddie to an obsessed autodidact, absolutely bloodthirsty for knowledge in hacking. Now I have no life, sit at home all day every day and just learn. Pretty sad but awesome heh.

[sigma]

Defining moments in my life that had nothing - and yet everything - to do with my career and my mindset; how I operate in both my civilian and professional work:

1. Discovered iced coffee + how to make my own. This doesn't necessarily have to be the same thing for you - no two people have the same tastes. Find something: a hobby, a habit, anything to which you can "addict" yourself. You will go to this when you have free time, get bored, etc., instead of losing your mind.
2. Embraced that I would die eventually and that everything, to a certain extent, has the power to kill me. You're small and the universe doesn't revolve around you.
3. If you want to achieve your goals, set major and minor ones and act accordingly. Stick to those goals. Make this your religion. Don't stray from the path.
4. Get up and do things even when you're sick and don't want to, or you just feel too exhausted. Your mind and body will appreciate you immensely.
5. Drink a gallon of water a day. Seriously, drink it. You don't know how much you need it because you drink barely enough to sustain yourself, but when you drink a gallon or more per day, you'll notice the difference, and so will everybody else in your life.

These are only a few things in general. The thing I can say that has most changed my life is the thing I haven't found yet, and I'm okay with waiting for it. Your job is not a purpose in life as many here would believe that it gives them something to provide to the world. You are not your career just as much as you are not your hobbies.

[violent]

i guess when i graduated high school. i went to a school i hated and failed all my classes on purposes to get kicked out but i didn't. i ended up failing 11th grade so my parents decided to change me from schools. i ended up graduating within 3 months and a year early from my original hs class.

[Kludge]

A defining point in my life would be the first time I wrote a program so complicated that it completely crashed my 386 running nothing but DOS. I suddenly realized I could hide complex, systematic tools of destruction inside what seemed to be normal, healthily operating programs.
Once W 3.1 came out and I ended up with a GUI, it seemed the simplest thing in the world to transfer the still relevant world of DOS and BASIC into Windows and fuck all that shit up too.

I believe my first virus was a simple cloner written in BASIC. It just had to be opened once and it would begin cloning 32 byte files until the hard drive became full or the RAM locked right the hell up.
Not too bad for a single digit aged kid.

My 386 crashing started my obsession with breaking systems so I could talk to the original builders and help them make their systems better. As "black hat" became more and more of a thing you did NOT want to be, I got less and less work helping rebuild shit I broke til it simply became about breaking shit for its own sake.