u/anonymous-adsfadsf

Its suuuper slow, its steady, but its working! I have my therapist to thank for clocking my moral/work OCD and shifting to ERP therapy!!! he rocked my world doing that!!

seriously! even when you feel absolutely pummeled by your thoughts... even if you catch yourself an hour into ruminating and doing rituals... noticing and doing that ERP excercise still counts. dont give up!

dont let the discomfort scare you!!! the fear, the congestion, the discomfort is all part of the ERP package!!!! dont give up friends we got this!!! lets win our lives back together and celebrate our smaller wins!

for context im 24f and I currently work as a tech at a residential mental health/addiction recovery center. The job is fine and I'm okay at it. I don't hate it and I'm helping people. Seems pretty good for a career setup for me. I have the personality and natural skills for it.

But I've felt this tugging toward the trades. I've been watching videos, I even took a class in industrial wiring and motor controls... I loved it.

If it were easy to get in, I'd probably not even have to write this post at all. but it IS HARD to get in the trades as a woman who is completely green with no connections. I've applied to countless jobs, applied to the union twice, and nada.

My dilemma is that maybe I'm in over my head. Like maybe I should stop being so eager like a kid and just settle for what I'm already good at. I keep letting myself down every time there's a rejection email, or if I get looked at funny at an interview.

I've signed up for more electrical classes, but according to general feedback, schooling in the trades doesn't actually do much. Out of naivete and I guess a selfish need, I signed up anyway. Even if I'll never be an electrician, I really just want to understand it. maybe it's better off as a personal interest rather than a career-- clearly so many rejections means there's something I'm fundamentally missing, right?

like maybe i should give up? Maybe I'm glamorizing things a little too much?

TL;DR - Should I take the safe road and focus on my current career in mental health/addictions, or should I keep trying to get my foot in the door with the electrical trade, even though they keep rejecting me?