[Lauraknott13]

I have just read the article “The courage to live consciously” and did the exercise of writing down the fears that I have been suppressing. It came down to “Quit your degree”. I then did the 10 steps to overcoming this fear and contributing to this forum is no.1.

Is there anyone else out there who would support my idea that a degree is not compulsory in order make a valuable contribution in life? Am I seriously limiting my life chances by not doing it? I’m in my second year of psychology and sociology. I previously did 2 years of a different degree before and found the courage to quit, despite all the critics… and actually since then, i have found a lot of support in those same people who tried to persuade me quitting was the wrong choice.

Every single time I go to write an essay I go through a mini personal crisis. It takes me hours of psyching myself into doing it. I don’t see the meaning or the purpose in it. I ask myself again and again why I’m here, doing this? The usual reason I find is to face my fears. I fear criticism and judgement, so I feel writing essays is a way to overcome this. I also need to find more effective ways of structuring my thoughts, so again, essays can help with this. But is it possible that I could be overcoming these fears whilst doing something I find meaningful and purposeful? I can’t tell if this is really NOT what I want, or if it is just an avoidance technique around exam times.

When I think of quitting my degree, i hear my dad’s voice (and many others) telling me that it’s best to keep my options open… that I may be refused future jobs if I don’t have a degree. I think partly my lack of motivation is because I don’t have clear goals set for myself, so I have no incentive to work towards them. My general aim is to “help people” to face their fears, to become more conscious, to give up what they know is bad for them, etc… I have had a lot of personal experience in these areas - I’ve overcome numerous addictions - therefore I know that another way of living is possible because I have turned my life around completely. My end goal is freedom from anxiety, fear and suffering for all beings - but how can I bring that into this world - and do I need a degree to do it??

Thanks for reading!
Laura