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Yes. And self understanding can help avoid some of the counter productive if not destructive advice that comes from the "mainstream". It may sound like obligatory appeasement, but the "different not better" language really does come to apply to one's understanding as one ages. Particularly if you've not been successful, and observe those around you who were once a bit in awe of what you could do, having successful lives (in your own eyes) while you continue to flounder from one poor fit to the next. If I'd known then, what I know now, I could have made some better choices. I feel I've squandered a lot of what I have to offer. I'm most happy when I am truly helping others, but the course I've ended up on has left me largely at odds with one poor fit after another, wherein I largely end up making everyone miserable. Just by way of explanation, for myself I've taken some damage along the way that makes it hard to just change (the discomfort is very distracting; also, I need to maintain group health care coverage). I hope that messages like this will reach those who are like me, so that they might avoid forcing themselves into roles that promote such damage, physical and/or mental. Life's just plain not easy, for many, and there are no guarantees. I can only say that, for myself, as I've learned more about my own personality and how it does and does not fit into the world, I've become better able to cope. The author is describing a group of people who are very bright, but who also (in my case, at least) have a strong need for a social connection. Knowledge like this can better enable them to approach that on their own terms, and perhaps to then be happy with the results. |