In Step 2, we come to believe that "at least some perceptions of ourselves from our pre-identification years might not be accurate". I feel like that is true for me. But at the same time, I now realize that some of those self-perceptions were meant to protect me, even if they weren't accurate.

For example, I spent years wanting to go to concerts, but I could never bring myself to do it. My perception at that time was that if I went, I would feel too awkward socially to enjoy myself. Not a great perception for my self-esteem! And also not accurate--today I am comfortable at concerts when I bring ear protection and take sensory breaks. But when I look back, I see that the inaccurate perception was actually protecting me from auditory overstimulation before I could consciously do it myself. 

Realizing this has made me feel a bit better about "not knowing myself" for all those years. Yes, many of my inaccurate perceptions hurt my self-esteem at the time. But if some of them were also protective, maybe that means I wasn't so cut off from myself as I thought.

I wanted to ask if anyone else in the group went through anything similar. Did you have inaccurate perceptions of yourself that still somehow protected you? And on the other side, did you have inaccurate perceptions of yourself that put you in harm's way?

Share questions: 

• Did you have any inaccurate perceptions of yourself in your pre-identification years? What were they? 
• Did any of those perceptions actually protect you in some way? Please describe. 
• Would it change how you feel about yourself to know that some of your self-perceptions protected you, even if they were not accurate? 
• Did any of your inaccurate perceptions actually make you more likely to come to harm? What happened?
• Are there any strategies, tools, or resources that helped you? 
• Anything else to add?