Sometimes it’s difficult to look back at your life and realize how little choice you really had in the whole thing.
Is there such a thing as “free will?” Because I’m not sure that I’ve ever been able to make my own decisions, when I really take a hard look at how things have developed.
When I was born, there was immense pressure put on me to follow my family legacy and make them proud. I’m sure that everyone has this filial obligation to some extent, but I really wasn’t given any choice in the matter. I came from a family that valued skilled trades and every man in my bloodline so far had fallen into the heating, cooling, and air quality control industry. I had an Uncle who worked as a professional heating and cooling technician. My dad was the manager of a fleet of HVAC repair trucks and associated air quality control specialists. And my grandad had been the patriarch who started the family heating and cooling dealership over 70 years ago. Everyone was involved in indoor air quality and temperature control, and I was expected to be the same. The problem was, I wanted to be a hand model – not an HVAC technician. Unfortunately no one in my family supported my dream, and I was essentially pressured into attending HVAC school instead of accepting their exile. I’ve now been a dedicated heating and cooling technician for over 15 years and I hate it every day. I dream of leaving my family and the family HVAC business and never looking back. Too back, I’ve really messed up my beautiful hands in the skilled trade industry.
