Cliffman:

I'm fortunate that my symptoms aren't as bad as what you are describing. But, there's still a lot of projects (car maintenance, home repairs, etc.) that I can now do only with great difficulty if at all. You can't stop being "you", you just have to morph into a "new you". I'm in my mid-50's and was already reaching a point where certain things I loved, like playing sports were getting difficult. So, I was already thinking about what I was going to do as I aged and had to find new activities to participate in.

When the PN hit, the shift just had to start taking place much quicker than I planned. I go out to dinner with friends instead of playing basketball with them. Instead of hiking in the woods and geocaching, I go wine tasting. I read more books. I go to more movies. And, I spend time on this forum......

One of the things I've been reading about lately is vinyards and wine making. I love to have a glass of wine with my wife and friends, and wine tasting has been a hobby for a while. Now, I'm seriously considering small batch home wine making as an extension of that hobby. (I know alcohol is not good for us with PN, but I exercise moderation - and the enjoyment for me is more from the companionship of friends and family rather than the alcohol consumption.)

So, the bottom line is try not to dwell on the things you can't do. Think about what you still can do - and how you can expand those things into new directions that you may not have thought of before.