I agree about it being time to not let things go, one step at a time. I get it and can fully relate. It's from being raised in a 'be nice' ubringing. Certainly, I myself, don't want to come accross as being off putting and I certainly have learned that most everyone around me is going to talk above me and my soft spoken voice. But for me, there's also the fact that it was my mom always and forever speaking for me, whether I wanted her to or not. I had to learn how to respectfully assert through the years. I even probably from group support prior to PC, learned the value of if something doesn't sit right, speak up and ask or ask myself, do I truly want to 'let that go' or do I now or never ask or say something because breading resentment leads to anger and depression and feeling isolated. It was such a tight knit group that group of 10 of us before life spread us all out in different directions but what you say in your OP resonates.