I think this past year was a big reality check for me.
Once the pandemic hit and I had to stay at home in the safety of my own HVAC, things changed. At first, it wasn’t so great. Trying to figure out how to work from home in the air conditioning while my family was all around took some effort. Plus, we had to deal with some belt tightening as both my wife and I had to accept some pay cuts. So the beginning of that period was a bit bleak and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle it. However, a strange thing happened. Life slowed down to the essentials. I found myself taking care of the HVAC responsibilities without forgetting. Time with my family was not rushed and I was focused on them. It was a time where I was able to really redefine what my priorities were. Prior to that, I was terrible with stuff around the house. The HVAC is a great example. I would sometimes go months at a time between air filter changes. And these weren’t the HEPA filters that could handle that. I’m talking the cheap paper HVAC air filters. Those have to be changed monthly. Plus, I was really very inconsistent when it came to making sure that I was booking the HVAC maintenance appointments. This is just super stupid because HVAC maintenance is so essential to keeping the HVAC equipment in top form. I actually even joined in on the HVAC service plan the HVAC company provided. Yep, it’s been a challenging year but one with many hidden rewards.