We spend most, or all, of our lives seeking others approval. The problem with that is most “others” are too busy thinking of themselves to have any time left to even see you.
It’s only when I embraced LOMO (Life On My Own) for the second time in my life that I finally moved past the idea that what others think of me is important.
I certainly recognize that LOMO is not for everyone. I will also admit that sometimes LOMO is lonely, but the advantages of LOMO, at least for me, far outshine its liabilities, especially at this time in my life.
Socially I have two strikes against me. I am deaf and Autistic/Aspie. Both of those conditions put serious obstacles in front of my social life. In fact, I have come to see that together they make being socially acceptable nearly impossible. I have spent a life trying to convince myself that isn’t true. I have finally come to realize that it is true.
Trying to fit in where practically no one wants much to do with me has been a lifelong frustration. You might call it depression or maybe anxiety. In any case, turning inward has once again brought me some peace in the time I have left. I am in my 79th year and no one in my family has lived beyond 80. So, I certainly see (not hear) the clock ticking.
LOMO gives me the freedom to live my remaining years with joy and satisfaction.
RJ's Corner 
I’ve spent most of my life trying to avoid other’s disapproval. It never occurred to me to actually seek their approval. Since I discovered I’m autistic, neither approval or disapproval matters much to me. I’m proudly autisticly me.
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Avoiding Disapproval vs Seeking Approval is an interesting twist. In my opinion, the medical community approaches everthing in a “Fix it” mode. Like you say, my version of Autism, which I still call Asperger’s, doesn’t need fixing. It is just who I am, and in my opinion gives me many more pluses than minuses. I don’t need fixing…
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Coming to terms with who and what we are, and then living in sync with that reality, takes a level of self-awareness and courage that too few possess.
Importantly, this does not mean we stop growing or learning more about the uniqueness that is us. It may be a cliché, but our one and only life is a journey.
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I don’t know why your replies are triple entered? It’s no problem as it is easy for me to eliminate the duplicates, but it would be nice to find out why you seem to be the only one to have this problem.
Living in sync with the reality of who you eventually discover you are is indeed the challenge of a satisfying retirement/life.
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