One of the toughest mental shifts I’ve had to face in early middle age is realizing that people who have known you your whole life may still not know you, or may only know who you were at one point and never updated their view as you grew. You can love them deeply, share history, share memories, share whole seasons of life and still hear a comment that makes you pause. It might be a sibling, a parent, a close friend or anyone who knows you well. They say something in passing that either dismisses something you value or suggests a version of you that you don’t even recognize (or maybe not recognize anymore). Maybe your sibling gets a new job and jokes, “now I can spend money frivolously like you.” Or you call a friend to celebrate your small business hitting ten thousand in sales and she replies without thinking, “wow, everything always comes so easy for you.” In those moments you’re left standing there unsure how to respond. All you can think is, how does my own sibling not see that I’...