Rosie Leizrowice

Dropping out is not as big a deal as the stigma surrounding it suggests.

I still feel the pain. Every damn day. The only difference is that I no longer suffer.

“It is not the number of positive experiences that dictate our enjoyment of life. It is the intensity with which we pay attention to them that matters.”

Reading is a form of training for living.

Meandering career paths. Confused life choices. Reckless changes. Living without clear goals or plans. Wasted hours, chewed nails, panicky phone calls. Dropping out, quitting, breaking up. Let’s celebrate not having a clue, a 10-year plan or a trajectory.

This might be a surprise, but research shows that the main predictor of job satisfaction is the length of time someone has spent working a particular job. Not their initial passion for it.

My peers threw chairs at me, spat on my exercise books, tore up my work and called me names. Some of the cutest nicknames included ‘hipster bitch’, ‘whore bag’ and ‘dustbin.’ There is a child like me in every class. You might have lived that too.

“You do not need to quit your job, go on a silent meditation retreat or move countries to feel better. However rough you feel, however hard life is, try incorporating one of these each day. Most only take a few minutes and your mind will thank you for it.”