Buying a motorcycle let me feel like I was in control of my life again

The last 6 months have felt like nothing but a decline. I graduated with a bachelors degree in December. Took until March to find a job that requires very little education. The girl I had been seeing for nearly a year ghosted on me shortly after I started my job. Started seeing another girl shortly after. A day before my birthday this month, I found out that she had started seeing someone else while we were together.Two weeks ago, I decided to do something for myself and I started shopping for motorcycles, which is really a family interest; my dad, my brother, two of my sisters, my brother in law, my cousin and her fiancé all have one.A week ago, I bought a 1997 Harley Sportster and the whole thing has been a disaster overall. The bike had been sitting for years and I was surprised at how easily it started. I bought it and got halfway to the shop before it started coughing black smoke and died. I pushed it the rest of the way. Cleaned the carburetor and somehow broke it. Got the carburetor fixed for about $10, put it back on and it wouldn’t run. Come to find out the guy before me put the seals for the intake manifold in wrong, so I replaced those and adjusted everything just to find that it still wouldn’t run. After an hour of trying to figure it out, I replaced the spark plugs and it roared to life. I rode it around town Saturday afternoon and decided to take it out to the highway Sunday morning. However, I made it a half mile out of town before my drive belt snapped and cracked my sprocket cover. Got it back to the shop, everything taken back apart, now I’m just waiting on the parts I ordered.If you’ve made it this far in the post, this is not a “poor me” post. This week has been one of the best that I can remember. Fixing pieces, working, having some sort of purpose that is truly my own has given me a sense of control of my life that I haven’t felt in years. I feel happier, more free, life has gotten brighter, despite the setbacks. via /r/motorcycles https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/buicwk/buying_a_motorcycle_let_me_feel_like_i_was_in/?utm_source=ifttt