I’m afraid I’ve become too good at surviving work environments that quietly diminish me

Dear Delyara, There is a competence that can become self-betrayal if you’re not careful. I know how to adapt. I know how to continue. I know how to make myself useful enough that even harsh or ill-fitting environments can be endured with a reasonable face and a functioning calendar. That skill has saved me in some seasons. It may also have kept me in places too long. Because if you can survive almost anything, you stop using discomfort as information. You start treating it as background. And I think I have done that professionally more than once.