Most words evolved as a description of the outside world, hence their inadequacy to describe what is going on inside me.

It is enough that I am of value to somebody today.

I can not 'make my mark' for all time - those concepts are mutually exclusive. 'Lasting effect' is a self-contradictory term. Meaning does not exist in the future and neither do I. Nothing will have meaning 'ultimately.' Nothing will even mean tomorrow what it did today. Meaning changes with the context. My meaningfulness is here. It is enough that I am of value to someone today. It is enough that I make a difference now.

We feel understood by people who like us; misunderstood by people who don't -- and those feelings are probably realistic.

When someone disagrees with me, I do not have to immediately start revising what I just said. People don't want me to always agree with them. They can sense this is phony. They can sense I am trying to control them: I am agreeing with them to make them like me. They feel; "I don't want to exist to like you. I DON'T exist to like you."

Because the results are unpredictable, no effort of mine is doomed to failure.

It's this simple: If I never try anything, I never learn anything. If I never take a risk, I stay where I am.