I received an email from a very nice person seeking advice and help about their future career choice. I replied saying that I don’t usually give advice because of how complex people are. One piece of advice that might work for one person, may be detrimental to another. However, what I did do was speak from my own experiences – hoping that themes within them applied to their personal situation. I noted that my arguments might very well be complete rubbish!

The email correspondence between us helped me to get some of my thoughts down on paper. And, I would like to put them up on my blog just in case someone else finds value in my experiences. This is the summary of my thoughts.

The blog post describes Alex’s struggle with making decisions when their mental illness and delusions have clouded their judgment. He compares the decision-making process to being dragged along rapids that split into multiple streams, each leading to a waterfall, with the only power being to choose which stream to go down and which waterfall to tumble over. Alex emphasizes the importance of gathering information, having conviction in the choice made, being responsible for the consequences, and being open to changing course if necessary. Alex acknowledges that their analogies are specific to their situation and that there is no overarching general rule that applies to all situations.

I don’t know in any moment whether I’m making the right decision. I’ve been in too many situations where my life depended on making the right decision when I knew that my brain was corrupted by mental illness and delusion. I have not faced anything more terrifying in my life. In those situations, I understood I knew way too little to make such decisions. But I also realised I would never get to the point where I would. Ultimately, I had no choice anyway.

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