[Freedom]

Originally Posted by Trapped

In my personal experience, as a church kid, it is difficult to have any real direction in life when pursuing any direction is represented to you for your whole growing up years as replacing the Lord/an idol/doing things your own way/chasing after things that are all going to burn anyway. It's hard to put energy toward anything or be excited or passionate about something when doing so has been so condemned. It's a great path directly to depression.

Very true. I remember that even from a young age, I was told that anything which didn't have "eternal value" was not worth our time. That definitely led to a diminished enthusiasm about things in life that do matter such as education and a career. When I was in college, I didn't take my studies too seriously (and spent much longer in college than I should have). I was convinced that going to meetings every night of the week was a better use of my time than studying and passing classes.