Paul Conti

So you're describing a healthy vulnerability, but then my brain says that's because on the other side of the seesaw, so to speak, has to be a healthy sense of self, whether we call it self-esteem or healthy pride.

And then I'll cite what I think is the evidence for that is you described the negative voice

as like the grumpy cat.

But that's a good negative voice to have because it's telling you like, hey, that wasn't your best.

Come on, do better.

You can do better.

There's a negative voice in some ways, but it believes in you.

Where that voice could be, it could be a negative voice that says, you didn't do that well because you suck.

You don't deserve anything.

Good, right?

Why should you even be alive, right?

I mean, that's the negative voice that can gain so much force if there isn't a balance of healthy self-esteem.

So I think because you're well-balanced, you have what you need and then having more of it seems like, oh, that's not so good.

But there are people whose negative voice isn't the grumpy cat, it's hateful, right?

And then that's a person who needs to bring that into greater balance.

Yeah.

Yes, which I think this leads us to what I think is a really important fact, right?

That there are some people, like a significant subset of people, who get happier as they get older.

They have more contentment, a stronger sense of self.

You may think, how could that ever happen, right?