I came back after a brief two-month absence during the beginning of my junior year of high school (last fall). I started rowing as a freshman, and I was hooked. But I began to realize there were many other interesting opportunities I was missing out on because of such a demanding training schedule, and I was also frustrated by the fact that, despite a massive effort to gain speed the summer before fall, I was beaten by a handful of first-year varsity guys in our first 6K of the season. Rowing just didn't "feel" the same way it did before, so I went up to my coach and told him I was done.
The newly acquired free time was certainly nice, but I became more depressed with every regatta picture my teammates threw up on social media. I kept remembering the brutal workouts that we did, and the crazy team dinners we had at our local Mexican place afterwards. The busrides, the cheering during 2K tests, the fist bumps we passed down the boat just before the flag went down...all of that came back to me. These guys were my best friends, and we were bonded by something that nobody outside this forum would probably understand. Sitting with them at lunch everyday just felt weird, as I kept wanting to hear how everyone was doing and what was going on with the team. During my new hobbies, I couldn't stop thinking about what was going on in the river at that moment. What workout were they doing? What terrible jokes was our bow seat cracking now? How many extra pushups did our 2V do if we lost to the varsity boat in our workout?
I also just felt BAD. I was eating more junk, since I wasn't as concerned about nutrition, and missed the healthy lifestyle that rowing had given me. I started going out on runs more frequently, and I couldn't stop the (almost) embarrassingly large grin from appearing as I felt drops of sweat trickle down my face. I emailed my coach after one of my runs, and I was back the next week for the start of winter training.
So, I'm not sure whether you're in school, what part of your career you're in, or if you row at all. I don't even know if I answered your question correctly. I don't know if I'm even qualified yet to talk about what an amazing sport rowing is. But what I do know now is that leaving rowing was the hardest decision I ever had to make, and that in hindsight, coming back was one of the best ones I have ever made. Unfortunately, we only have so much time in our lives to stay active, and probably less for rowing. We have an even shorter window of opportunity to row competitively, or to row on a team. I missed the same constant highs and lows that rowing gave me, I missed the same competition that had steered me towards leaving, and I missed the lessons it taught me that I could apply to any area of my life. I am positive that if I hadn't started rowing two years ago, I wouldn't have developed the qualities that allowed me to perform at a high level which has given me the opportunities I have as I enter my senior year. I wouldn't have made the few, close friends that never leave my back, and I wouldn't have gotten rid of the ones that weren't true ones. I'm extremely grateful for what it has done for me, and I'm looking even more forward to where it will take me should I get the chance to row in college.
Cheers.