Oh my god, this so hard. And I think it especially applies to women (who are handed repeated messages that their value lies in their youth and beauty). You get better at boundaries, you don't tolerate pathetic men trying to guilt trip you into giving them your time, you stop coddling people who are actively negative influences / energy vampires ...
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Your self confidence grows immeasurably when you realise that you're smarter than a lot of supposedly "successful" men — success is no marker of greatness but rather a system that favours their overconfidence...
(obligatory not all men, I know at least three very intelligent and sensitive men and I'm sure the proportion of them on Mastodon is much higher)
...and because a lot of them are disgusting they'll move onto the 20 year olds and you're free to live your fullest life (besides looking out for younger women to the best of your ability). Getting older is my favourite and no wonder so many males try to sow discord between older and younger women and attempt to discredit them. Healthy boundaries and a confident sense of discernment often don't work in their favour.
