Loved the bit 'being afraid to be yourself ... simply a problem to be solved on your path'.
I feel a pathological resistance to doing anything I'm obliged to do, to the point where it really made it hard for me to put ANY events or commitments on my calendar. Now I do a job where I decide exactly when I work, what I do, and no-one is overseeing me. If I want to I can send out a cancellation there and then on the spot [it would mess folk around so I generally don't], but I love my job enough that even when I feel a bit reluctant I'm so entirely absorbed and fascinated and in the flow within minutes of starting work ... I know I can get over those moments when I'd rather be doing something else.
I'd love it even better if I could down tools whenever I felt like it. That would be ideal. [Indeed, I actually could, but it would not be particularly useful to me]. Knowing I have this freedom enables me to have a full diary and be happy about it. :-)
I shared your last paragraph out to my facebook page. I reckon a few more people need to realise that being afraid to be yourself is just a question of working out what it's about and just part of rejigging your environment rather than yourself. That seems so much more surmountable .. And it IS.