As someone whose age can be measured in rings. like on a tree trunk, I can offer this:
Never define yourself (or let others define you) by where you happen to be at a moment in time.
We all go through countless changes...some within our control and some not. At any number of points in my life, someone might have said I was this or I was that - and that person would have been right. But it didn't mean I always had been or always would be. How many friends we have today is no measure of how many we may have next week or next month. If we can't connect socially, are we doomed never to do so? Not at all.
I was me at 14, at 18, at 25, at 35, at 45, and so on...changing and learning every step of the way. I'm a better me now. But I look back and wonder how I did it. Socially awkward, lazy, undisciplined, having no particular goals... I have to own that part of me. I'm not proud of it, but it has nothing to do with who I am today.
It sounds trite, but you really don't have perspective until you reach a fairly advanced age. We all have to make the same mistakes and learn the same lessons.
And each of us has value - at no matter what age. We're all works in progress.
