Carol Whiteley

“Courage is the capacity to meet the anxiety which arises as one achieves freedom. It is the willingness to differentiate, to move from the protecting realms of parental dependence to new levels of freedom and integration. ” Rollo May, The Meaning of Anxiety

I am an older student who should be thinking of my retirement options, and yet I have a drive to use myself creatively to facilitate the healing of others who might benefit from my trials and errors in life.

Everyday I have a choice. I can allow myself the indulgence of laziness with the excuse that I have earned my right to be non-productive. After all, I am retired from teaching and it is my time to loaf and experience the “good life”. Why should I have to agonize over a paper for a class on group counseling when I could be reading a novel on my back porch while I soak up the sun and pet my cat?

I have to ask myself why I am in school for my second master’s degree every time I am faced with a task for school that seems overwhelming. Most of the time I just grin and bear it like jumping in a cold pool without first testing out the water.

After I am done, I have a huge sense of accomplishment. I have once again proven to myself that I can rise above the mundane and follow through with a goal to be a counselor that I have had for many years.

In the end, I am always glad that I pushed forward with my dream and allowed myself to be anxious but didn’t allow myself to quit. So far, it has been well worth the effort.

Carol Whiteley is a counselor in training at Argosy University in Atlanta. http://www.carolsingsoldies.blogspot.com/