During my illustrious career I made my way through many, varied, career paths…a “Janet of all trades,” if you will. I was incredibly lucky in that I enjoyed learning on the job while experiencing new, and often challenging, endeavors. When new friends were getting to know me, listening to random stories from my past, they all wound up asking the same question, “Felicia, what haven’t you done for a living?”
That being said, and without a single doubt in my mind, one of my all-time favorite experiences of yesteryear was working in the construction industry. After spending time on the white collar side of several trades, I realized that my home away from home was actually “in the field.” Having my father to thank for that revelation, I realized as a child I was his most economic, and loyal, laborer! There was nothing I’d rather do than be his #1, and assist in his creations. He was a structural engineer by day, and the king of his workshop by night.
Watching an empty, dark basement turn into 2000 square feet of entertainment heaven really captured my attention and set my imagination on fire! If that wasn’t enough for my tiny teenage mind; then- the creepy, cobweb filled attic becoming an entire second story of our family’s ranch home, complete with bedrooms, a walk-in cedar closet and another bathroom, and I was encapsulated, hook, line, and sinker!
So on to adulthood, and off to the construction site I went. Making money doing what you love is truly the best way to take the stress, and drudgery, out of the work day. I was fortunate enough to be growing up at a time when college was still only an option, and there were jobs-a-plenty wherever you turned. My time in the field covered rough and finish grade construction, masonry, concrete, drywall and painting (don’t get too worked up, I was only a laborer). I worked alongside many men, at various points throughout their careers. While everyone was different, from personality to body type, each and every one of them could have benefitted from some much needed attention to one of the most essential, and irreplaceable tools in their toolbox...their fingers and hands. They all were talented in their own fields, and ended up teaching me a lot of their trade secrets, but after some time they ended up confiding in me how they knew they’d have to consider dropping out of their trades. Unfortunately, their bodies were not holding up well under the repetitive motion they performed day in and day out.
I personally was a moderate weight training enthusiast, and held up well under whatever pressures I was met with while working in construction. Extending the progressive weight theory to my hands and fingers during that time became a huge blessing, especially in the years following. Luckily, I never had to join the ranks of those leaving the trades due to physical ailments. Decades later my whole body is still going strong; doing all I love with no long term physical repercussions. While FingerWeights won’t cure a bad back, they will help keep your fingers and hands in tip-top shape!
WRITTEN BY: FELICIA POCIUS (F.Pocius@FingerWeights.com)
