Whatever career you are in, you always have other distractions.
— Alun Wyn Jones
It is very easy to make athletes, and it is very difficult to make rugby players with that rugby instinct. I would like to think I have got a bit of rugby instinct and have become more of a rugby athlete along the way.
I know part of me is going to die when I stop playing rugby.
It doesn't matter how young or old you are, and whatever jersey you wear, you realise the derby games prick up the hairs on the backs of people's necks.
I'm happy in what I do, and I just like cracking on, doing what I love. The people around me know who I am, and that's what means the most.
Ultimately, rugby players are like surfers. You look for the perfect wave, but you don't always find it. And if you did, you'd probably pack up and try something else.
There is ways and means to vent, and sometimes they can be the wrong ways.
I'll look back on my career as a whole and at parts of it and say I should have enjoyed that more. I suppose that's my own fault.
I am always optimistic.
If I make a mistake, I just shrug it off and carry on.
I know there are certain things I may never achieve depending on whether I stay at the Ospreys or go.
I am probably a bit numb upstairs, which is sometimes a good thing.
Whatever you do, whether you're a journalist or a player, you want to see what you can do - that's why you're doing it.
I don't really want followers, to be honest; that's what Twitter is for. I want people who can make their own decisions and look after their own departments.
I've got a family now, which matures you.
We've got a great team sport, but we harp on about individuals. It's a bit contradictory.
You can only use what God gave you.
Ultimately, we are professional rugby people, and we focus on the rugby. That's the easy bit. We are not politicians, so we don't have to delve too much into that.
To a point, family does that and a couple of life experiences both positive and negative that have definitely altered my perception on rugby. Whereas my first 28-29 years, rugby was the entire focus, which was not that healthy, now you realise what is really important.
I'll know when to retire when I don't want to push myself anymore.
I did GCSE's and A-levels. I did my finals after the Lions tour in 2009 to get my law degree. So I've always had an eye on life beyond playing, irrelevant of the period in my career.
Apparently, I'm the angriest man. I don't know. It's just an interpretation. If it was someone else, they might be called focused or competitive. I'm not that angry or grumpy, but if you want to say I'm angry because I'm focused or competitive, then that's okay.
I usually don't talk for three days after a defeat. Then you have an epiphany and realise it's just a game.
It's very easy to quantify performances and personal accolades, but ultimately, I'm in a team sport, and it's about winning.
As individuals, we don't sometimes let ourselves enjoy things that we possibly should because of ways you want to be perceived, which is a silly thing as well.
Every cap is my first, and every one is my last... that's the way I look at it.
As you get older, you realise you can't worry about mistakes; you just worry about playing, and I've been doing that.
You do not have time in international rugby to stop and think, 'This is tough.' It's more a case of, 'Let's crack on.' Where's your next job? Fill a hole for someone who has just made a tackle?
You know when you've had a good game, and you know when you could have done better.
When I retire, my CV might have a few holes, things I haven't achieved that I would have felt I needed to do, but I won't know if I did need to do them until I retire.
I was watching the Five Nations as a kid, I'm very fortunate to have been able to pull the red jersey on a few times, and now I'm able to assist the team, assist the young players coming through, and help the guys who do have the ambition to play more for Wales.
I got to a stage in my mid-20s where I was focusing on 'what's next, what's next,' and sometimes you don't enjoy what you should.
When you lose, it motivates you to go again.
I don't compare myself with anyone.
I don't think you need to go global rugby to save the Lions, but I think you need to go global rugby to save rugby and not lose things like the Lions.
I look back at all the contracts I've had, and I never assumed I would get another one. Honestly. I don't take anything for granted. Nothing.
Happiness is dangerous. If you're happy, you're content, and if you're content, you can become complacent.
Players want to play a lot of rugby. We're walking contradictions at times in that we want to play a lot of rugby, but we don't want to play too much rugby, and we want to be available for all the big games, yet there are times when you have to sacrifice that because of game limits.
That's the great thing about this sport: it's always different.
The longer I have played, the perception of myself has changed. I conduct myself to other players a bit better.
The higher up the rugby ladder you go, the differences between winning and losing games get smaller and smaller.
As I grow older, I like to think I'm getting a little bit more mature.
If I talk to a young player, I always tell them never try too hard.
If you had a global calendar, then you would have less games; you create more intrigue, create supply and demand with regards to the sport, and that will heighten the intrigue with regards to the Lions. Create more mystique not only at international level but at club level as well.
If we have given everything we can, you are not settling for mediocrity because the better team won. Sometimes you have to have that mindset to be able to improve rather than keep telling yourself you should have won.
I'll look at stats after a game to see the work I've done in different areas.
Before I was 'the captain' with the label - because essentially, that's all it is - I was a player, and before that, I was a fan of the game, fan of the team.
Ultimately, as players, we are inside the tent, and we have got to deal with what happens between the white lines.
Without being too profound, I never dreamt of getting 100 caps for Wales.
From a personal point of view, I wouldn't have been happy with one cap but would always have been happy with two. I never counted on getting to 80.
