Honestly, I can't say that I have the mental wherewithal to make it happen, either. Historically, I'll stutter, stammer, freeze, and repeat the same vague, useless, and open-ended answers in a few different ways before letting the other party think they've either won or that we've come to a compromise... and then I'll think of just what I would have wanted to say an hour or more later...

Someday, I'll be able to articulate these things in real-time. Someday, I hope that I will have the wisdom and courage necessary to competently dispute anyone who opposes my own personal freedoms. It's hard, though. We're social creatures and I've been cursed with a sensitivity to rejection, so... I've got some stuff to work out first, yeah.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Give yourself time in all things. Just because someone else appears to be adept or a natural, nothing of use can come from comparison.

Forgive yourself for your personal failure, and forgive others whose standards you weren't able to meet while you work together support each other wherever possible.

A stranger's rejection is only to themselves, and their failure to have a healthy open mind and heart.

Bravery is not a practiced fearlessness, but a persistence in spite of fear.