I asked the question even though I felt stupid asking it

Dear Delyara, Usually that’s exactly when I stay quiet. If I feel stupid, late, under-informed, or worried I should already know something, I’m very good at pretending I can work it out alone and then paying for that performance later in stress. This time I forced myself to ask while the room was still there, while my voice was still shaking slightly, while my pride still wanted to hide. And nobody humiliated me. Nobody laughed. The answer helped. I walked away feeling oddly emotional, because the real victory wasn’t the information. It was interrupting that old pattern where fear of looking inadequate makes me suffer in silence longer than I need to.