Navigating Life Without a Doctorate

Should we need a doctorate to talk about personal philosophy or to develop one? When we hear a statement that rings of universal truth, we often recognize it. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and counsellors often don’t have all the answers. After all the sessions are over, it won’t be the professionals who do the work. They may indeed offer useful advice, new perspectives, or prescribe a helpful drug, but it is the responsibility of individuals to sort out the messes they live in, whether those situations are self-inflicted or created by someone else. A positive perspective and a willingness to make the necessary changes is all anyone needs to improve.

It is difficult to talk with confidence about a subject such as change without some degree of experience. So, what are my credentials? I have a Bachelor’s degree in Education with, 20 years of classroom experience. I’ve triumphed over a debilitating subarachnoid brain bleed. I live with pain and numbness in my legs and feet—the effects of pernicious anemia. I’ve have had to say goodbye to my wife and best friend when leukemia took her away too soon. I'd say I have plenty of life experience and enough pain to justify a lifetime of anger.

Sometimes, receiving a beating feels like a natural condition of life, but I don't have to choose to be angry.

While these experiences give us a valuable education, we cannot wait around for horrible things to happen to learn something about life, and we cannot afford to make every mistake there is, either.

Our understanding of anything in our world can only be achieved because there is a system at work. If every event in the cosmos was a random occurrence, how could we make predictions about anything? The universe we live within is not a random one.

So much of what we experience in life involves others. Without other people, our lives hold little meaning. Without the ability to share thoughts and experiences, or lives would have little meaning. Imagine if discoveries were not shared. We would still be dragging sledges instead of riding in cars. There is probably no useful discovery that has not been shared. Interaction with others is a simple function of our existence. We need friends, family and colleagues.

It is in the failure to interact with others in healthy ways that leads to many undesirable outcomes. Do we really need someone with a higher education to tell us how to act and respond? If we do, we had better start providing that kind of service to our children when they are at a young age. The notion seems ridiculous.
Let's instead, learn from the self-evident.