[CQ-Contest] The Thrill ... and change

[W1HIJCW at aol.com]

Two observations:

First -- nobody seems to be able to hit the nail on the head as well as Ward 
--- time in and time out

Second -- this thread demonstrates what I consider the greatest strength of 
contesting --- the sense of community and helpfulness, but that's another 
thread ...

There's another subliminal thread going on here I think ... the constant 
presence of change. Reading the original post and the many responses, I'm 
struck by the large number of people who describe "going away and coming 
back". In fact, I'm one of those myself. Some might remember Frank Donovan 
mentioning my presence at a Field Day in '59 in his Hall of Fame acceptance 
speech, yet between 1972 or 3 and 1996, I didn't even think about contesting. 
But I came back when the time was right for me.

The point is that change (of interests, of resources, of level of obsession) 
is not per se bad. I've experienced, as I know you all have, feelings not a 
lot different from guilt when I realize that I've not participated in or 
thought about some activity that I was passionately involved in. I used to 
even feel guilty about feeling guilty.

But then with advancing age and some very sage advice, I realized that change 
in interests was not in and of itself a bad thing. So for a while you don't 
really care about getting "up" for the next CQ WW or SS. So what ---  the 
interest will come back, you'll get "up" again. And if the interest doesn't 
return, that's no biggie either. Something else will have taken it's place.

I have the privilege of being able to teach young people at the local branch 
of the University of California and one of the things I always try to get 
across to them is that while they are right now passionately committed to 
being engineers or architects or whatever, the likelihood is that their 
interests will change someday and they'll have the opportunity to explore 
some other career. That's a good thing, not a bad thing.

Ham radio has a lot in common with that situation. There are lots of things 
and activities one can be involved in and participate in. There's nothing 
wrong with a change in direction.

But perhaps the most wonderful thing to me about the contesting community is 
that when the interest does return, the community will still be here with the 
same enthusiasms, and the community will welcome you back just as it did me.

73,

Bill -- W1HIJ (/6)


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