When faced with a life-changing decision are you able to choose the best path?

Does your dreams, hopes and desires sometimes conflict with the reality you face?

Are you more likely to choose a path based on those dreams and hope for the best or can you make the decision that reality dictates even tho you don't want to?

Here's my situation:
My CDL driver's license expires on my birthday this year.
I am disabled.
My current license is still from out of state.
My current state CDL renewal requires a DOT physical.
It also costs twice my last renewal.
My career is truck mechanic.
I don't drive OTR, mainly just road tests but I need the CDL to do so.
My health is not getting any better.
Every 2 years SSD reviews my case and I can be removed from disability at anytime they determine.
I no longer have a workable tool box.

When I go into DMV to renew my license I will hand them my out of state license and see what they say. There is a chance they might just renew it but the cost will be substantially higher than all previous renewals.
The money is not the issue. The issue is, do I really need the CDL? Once the CDL is gone, its very hard to get one again.
I'm 56 right now. Retirement for me is 65.

I'm thinking there is no need to renew my CDL.
However, if I am mistaken, it could be disastrous to my career.
There is a good chance I won't be able to because of my health not passing the DOT physical but, if push comes to shove, I know I could get a Dr to just sign off on it.

Try to put yourself in my situation...What would YOU do.
Oh, My master truck technician certifications are all expired too.

I can only speak from experiences in my own life of course. I generally try not to close doors whenever possible. I like having as many options available to me for “come what may” if and when “may” comes.

If money is not the issue, it seems like for some time and inconvenience you can have an option that may or may not be necessary in the future.

You can’t control SSD and the decisions they make, nor can you control the DMV, but you can choose to do your best to give yourself a future option. If you renew it successfully, the worst case scenario appears to be some wasted time and money but the satisfaction that you tried. Best case is that you have a plan b which reduces the power that SSD has over your future. Good luck with the entire process.

Yes, I can relate to that but I also live in the reality before me.
Hence my trepidation.

If I 'bribe' a Dr to sign off on my DOT physical and renew my CDL, in 2 years when SSD reviews my case, they will see that I am licensed with an active DOT physical.
I know, from past DOT physicals that I can't pass it on my own health.
My actual Dr will not sign off on it. I will have to use a different Dr for the DOT requirements.

My health will never get better unless some miracle happens. Even if I could afford to get the surgeries I need, I have lost a large amount of muscle mass. A truck mechanic needs to be able to lift and carry up to 50 lbs. Something I can no longer do.

My reality is that I don't see me getting better.
I would love to get my career back. I live on 1/5th what I made as a mechanic.
Renewing my CDL could jeopardize my only income.
If I pursue my hopes of working again (just in case) I could end up in a worse reality than I face right now.

Thanx and yes, I see that logic already.
However, there are also logical reasoning not to renew.

I was disabled when I renewed it the last time.
The issue now is that DOT physical.
My last renewal did not require a physical.
The change is the different state in which I am renewing.
Different policies, increased costs.
Also if I fudge the DOT physical results, an impact on my SSD review.

Reality tells me to do one thing and my dreams tell me to do the other.

If I go in and hand them my license and they just renew it the whole issue is moot.

Just saying before you chump off and have that Dr. sign a false statement saying you can pass that physical. You might want to weigh out the consequences what it could do to your disability that you are on....

Due to if they have access to that or notice you have just renewed and a Dr said you are healthy enough to retain the CDL....Disability might just figure if that is the case then you are healthy enough to get off of the disability.... and work~~~

Plus with that fact the CDL was giving in another state and now expired they may require that all test be taken over as well...

Most are required to change addresses on licenses within 90 days of moving to a new address...

I would find out prior just in case....

I’m sorry to hear of you physical decline. I would always hope it would improve and strive toward that.

Personally, I would not go as far as to bribe or coerce a Dr into falsifying a physical. If you are not in good enough health to carry out the job, then I would stick with the other source of income that is assured and maybe find some other income source to augment it.

dreamed i would be a point guard in the NBA...didn't
work out for me so i went to work in a steel mill..
still went to the gym to play ball in pick-up games for
20+ years...was never the last guy picked...

can't be a Master Truck technician anymore ? no certs. no tools ?
go to work as a regular car mechanic, if that doesn't work out
for you repair lawnmowers if necessary..at least you'll be
doing something you like to do, just not at the same level
you once were...

As someone who's allowed dreams to rule over reality, and basically has nothing now as a result of that, I'd say sticking to reality would be the best option. That's what I'm working on doing right now in my own life.

I'd love to go home, fix it so it's livable after the hurricane damage, and get my old job back. My dream to have my own home and be independent had kept me there for three years, living in an extremely toxic environment with a sibling.

Reality is that if I return to fix up my home and continue to live there because I have a right to and it's affordable, my spirit... or what's left of it.. will die! And along with that my dreams will continue to never transpire.

So my life changing decision is to not return to something that will continue to destroy me. To venture out into the world and find my place. Hence the seasonal work. It provides me with a place to sleep and income at the same time.

Argo made a good point, there are other ways you can still do the work you enjoy, maybe not at the same level as before, but it's possible and with that you can still keep your consistent income.

I don't see you being okay with getting your doctor to lie, you're an honest man and I see that hurting you in more ways than one.

Problem is the nature of my disability is from chemical exposure. Drs insisted that if I continue to be exposed it will kill me, hence why they put me out of work in the first place. They were so decisive about it when I applied for my disability, at their suggestion, it was approved in 1 month.
Treating the condition caused even more problems from the radical procedures needed to save my life. I'm seriously f'ed up from it all.
I'm not expecting SSD to stop my benefits but with my luck, it could happen.

Basically, my CDL is one of my last anchors to a life that once was.
Reality tells me to let it go but my dreams of being "normal" tell me to keep it.
Once its gone, its gone for good.
In a way I guess it symbolizes my hope that I will return to normalcy someday.

I'm not really worried about it but it is on my mind.
I'm just hoping that as July ticks closer it doesn't turn into worry. Its the very last death of Tom's 30 year career.

I can see and understand why that would be difficult to let go of.

It's never easy saying goodbye!

I think rather than resort to illegalities I would look
at it as one big hassle.

I do believe I would let it go..use a taxi if needed.
Should your health improve for some reason you can still
get a license later.

Live in the moment, however real it is.

Tom, you should be thankful it didn't kill you..
make the best of whats left of your life and don't
define it by CDL's, certifications or license's of
some sort or another...you are more than those things..

self-pity is a dangerous trap...don't fall into it...

my approach would be to get it and not need it...Then it is behind you and in the no worry category...

I think you are better at scripting options and paths than I...I often choose to remove those things which i can that steal my time in the form of worries and concerns...if there is a cost, i consider it a bonus to not spend one night thinking about it again...and just as important, I acknowledge and accept the consequences of those choices...Life has always thrown me curve balls called the "unknowns and unpredictables" in spite of my carefully thought out plans...my experience thus far is - the more calm and relaxed i am when those things come, the better i am able to respond and react...just my two cents...all the best...cheers

I don't know.
Its a different state.
I see DOT physical signs all around the hospital area.
"Get your DOT physical with us, Its Easy, Its Cheap, No Hassles"
Obviously, somebody is checking.

Its my assumption that DMV requires DOT physicals for CDL renewal.
In my last state, the one of my license, the employer was required to hold the DOT physical records. They issued me a card but that DMV never asked for the card for any of my renewals.

I had a 6 year license. I will be looking to get another 6 year license. When that license expires I will be 63 if I am still alive.
If I'm still not able to drive truck at 63, 2 years won't matter.

I have the option to forfiet my CDL for a regular license. Cheaper and less hassle. But, Trump is in office. Cutting Social Security is always on the table. I am being realistically wary of giving up my CDL without a fight.

I'm not worried about it but it is a major life decision, which is what this thread was intended to discuss. Not necessarily my major life decision but the process of deciding whether to go with hopes and dreams or reality when facing one.
My license is my own personal example.
To get the discussion going.

What is likely going to happen is:
I'll grab my State Birth Certificate and two utility bills and head to the DMV.
I'll present my CDL and my documents to the clerk and ask for a new license.
They will tell me if I need more documents.
At that time, if they want a DOT physical, I'll tell them I'm disabled and unemployed right now.
If the will renew it, I'll pay the fee.
If push comes to shove, I will opt for a regular license.

I've been thru DOT physicals before.
Even been thru a physical where they only checked my eyes and wrote the pass.
My VA Dr is an idiot. I could put any form in front of him and he would sign it just to move me along.
Plus, if the paperwork looks right, who at the DMV is actually going to read it?

Basically weighing the pros and cons of what it is you want to do.

Then look at the possible consequences of either decision you make and decide if you can live with whatever the consequence may be.

The only thing left is to make the decision based on your assessment.

Tom, while I have no suggestions beyond what you've been given, I can relate to the SSD predicament. I just got done filling out and sending in my 2y review.

Take care, see your doctor regularly, talk to him about if you can return to work, if he says no, there's your answer.

Guess I did have a suggestion. Nvm

Yup, I'm big on pros and con lists. I was kinda looking for all the different ways we enter into our decisions that dictate life's path.

I've met many a folk that face life changing decisions but refuse to give them any consideration and blindly decide based on their hopes and dreams.

It has merit in dating on how we arrive at our important decisions.
So many things about dating can affect how our lives turn out.
Yet, many people don't seem to give it much deliberation.
Some give it too much deliberation and get stuck.

Is it merely a weighing of pros and cons or is it a push for hopes and dreams?
At what point is the fantasy rejected in favor of reality?
Or, Is the fantasy so important that it is never rejected?
What happens when you get the fantasy but the reality leaves you empty and unfulfilled?
Do we repeat the process or learn from it?

*thread bump*

Good advice.