How do I tell if I'm learning to grow or just to feel safe?

You can reskill yourself into almost any nearby opportunity, and somewhere along the way learning became how you keep yourself safe. That is a real strength with a shadow. The ability to adapt is a gift, but when it is driven by fear, the same skill that frees you can quietly become a cage you keep polishing. Noticing the difference is a sign of self-honesty most never reach. There is nothing wrong with learning to stay secure. The question is whether the fear ever rests. If you are always acquiring the next skill just in case, you may never let yourself stand still long enough to enjoy the safety you have already built. At some point, more preparation stops adding protection and starts stealing the peace it was supposed to buy. Ask yourself, plainly, whether the next thing you plan to learn is something you actually want, or just another wall against a threat that may never come. Sometimes the braver move is to pause, and trust that what you already know is enough for now. You are not as unsafe as the habit tells you.