Leaving Mahjong in General

No, I am not ending my mahjong life any time soon.  Instead, I ask a question with a very obvious answer:

Can people leave mahjong?

In other words, can people stop playing and completely disassociate with everything mahjong related?  The natural and obvious answer: Of course!   An end is inevitable for each and every one of us.  The method of end will very though. 

The contrary would violate the freedom noted in "my" Prime Directive.  No one should ever be forced to play; and by extension, no one should be forced to associate with an activity and its people.  So, this idea extends to all other activity.  I am very much in support of volunteerism.

Have I seen people leave?  Yes, of course.  People come and go in all activity, and mahjong is no different.  It is the natural order.  Some departures feel sadder than others.  I know some who have quit and sold their sets.  It was a sad sight to see.  For them, the game is completely over.  Yet, they still retain the option to come back.  Heaven forbid, some players stopped playing because their own lives stopped in one way or another.  I have not experienced a case, where a player in my circles ended in that fashion.  Hopefully, the only time we ever experience that: Old age.  Given the rules of life, we will all end someday.

For now, I look to enjoy my time playing mahjong and the people who I play with.  Later, we'll explore why people even play this game.  Of course, those reasons vary from person-to-person.