Late discovery, lifelong patterns

Learning something important about yourself later in life is rarely simple.

There's relief.

Recognition.

Language.

But there's also grief.

Grief for years spent misunderstanding yourself.

Grief for effort that might not have been necessary.

Late discovery doesn't rewrite the past.

But it does recontextualise it.

Patterns that once felt like defects begin to make sense.

This process isn't instant.

Understanding arrives quickly.

Integration does not.

If late discovery has stirred mixed feelings, you're not doing it wrong.

You might give yourself permission to feel relief and grief at the same time.

Living with new understanding is a process.

You don't need to rush it.