There's so much in your story that echoes my own life, but this sentence really sums it up. I don't know how many times people have asked me why I can't do this or that when everyone else can do it. The first time I frustratedly replied with. "Because I'm not like everyone else," it unlocked a door in my brain. Of course I was in my twenties then, but as I approach 50, I'm grateful I figured that lesson out as a young adult.