I think that part of becoming a man is to break out of the shell and make choices for yourself and that you must always provide your own impetus for action. I did just that a little over 16 years ago, and the success that arose from making that choice and taking that risk has begotten me many more successes over the years. So much so that it's like a drug now to do the opposite of what's expected or even known and succeed.
I took a radically different path than the typical "graduate, go to college, get a good job" that my parents had alluded to my entire life. I did the typical teenager thing cut class and got high with my friends, and my parents began to worry I would end up like my screw up uncle who alternates residences between jail and some school bus (real or metaphorical I never figured out) instead of a respectable college grad and all that.
When I turned 18 I dropped out of high school and enlisted. This was pre 9/11 when the military was recovering from the cut backs of the 90's. My family was mortified. More so I think about the dropping out than the enlisting, the only alternate reality for them was that I go to college and earn a commission. They did not support it at all and tried every which way from Sunday to talk me out of it, my dad even offered to move to a neighboring state so I could go to a JROTC program while finishing high school. Yet the harder they pushed the more I wanted it. I still remember looking at my dad's face as I drove away with my recruiter. We were both scared shitless. I considered all that a mere annoyance at the time, though now with the wisdom Ive gained over the years I can at least appreciate/understand their actions. But we all accepted it and moved on.
So that doesn't really answer your question then does it? My own relationship with everyone and everything I knew was strained due to my decision. Ultimately the relationships I have now are much stronger for all of that and not things to be trifled with. Some of us need to occupy a stratum that we have created ourselves, not one that was created for us.
Would I do it all again? Absolutely.
I took a radically different path than the typical "graduate, go to college, get a good job" that my parents had alluded to my entire life. I did the typical teenager thing cut class and got high with my friends, and my parents began to worry I would end up like my screw up uncle who alternates residences between jail and some school bus (real or metaphorical I never figured out) instead of a respectable college grad and all that.
When I turned 18 I dropped out of high school and enlisted. This was pre 9/11 when the military was recovering from the cut backs of the 90's. My family was mortified. More so I think about the dropping out than the enlisting, the only alternate reality for them was that I go to college and earn a commission. They did not support it at all and tried every which way from Sunday to talk me out of it, my dad even offered to move to a neighboring state so I could go to a JROTC program while finishing high school. Yet the harder they pushed the more I wanted it. I still remember looking at my dad's face as I drove away with my recruiter. We were both scared shitless. I considered all that a mere annoyance at the time, though now with the wisdom Ive gained over the years I can at least appreciate/understand their actions. But we all accepted it and moved on.
So that doesn't really answer your question then does it? My own relationship with everyone and everything I knew was strained due to my decision. Ultimately the relationships I have now are much stronger for all of that and not things to be trifled with. Some of us need to occupy a stratum that we have created ourselves, not one that was created for us.
Would I do it all again? Absolutely.