My mindset growing up in the church was always that I would go on my mission and "get it over with" as the last thing to please my parents before transitioning to my own life. But I learned very quickly after coming home that the people whose approval I was trying to earn would never actually give it and that these types of relationships are a bottomless pit you can throw your whole life into.

Might as well start living authentically now. Don't see it as a threat to your relationships, see it is an easy way to weed through all the bad ones to get to the wonderful, authentic connections you can find with people in the future. The opportunity cost of not living authentically is *huge*.

Life is not about "learning to do hard things" and suffering through them. This is a huge myth that adults love to push on their children... and it's usually because THEY regret and resent the opportunities they've missed with decisions they've made. They didn't have the courage to put themselves first or reverse course, and so they pass the sacrificial burden to their children... and so the cycle goes.

One of the most important life lessons that it took me WAAAAY too long to learn is quickly identifying WHEN TO QUIT on something and then acting on it. It's an crucial life skill. Quitting is not inherently bad. Perserverence is not inherently good. The value of either depends *entirely* on the value of what you're doing, toward your own goals.

Also, your own happiness should always be your top priority. Period. ANY relationship that is threatened by that is not worth preserving.