We’ve confused pain and losing ourselves with love, belonging and connection. We've set ourselves up to make winning with ourselves incredibly difficult.
In finding balance, whether in a person or in a society, it is important that we strike a balance -- between yin and yang, feminine and masculine, receptivity and activity -- regardless of which gender we conform to (or not). It is in this balance that we become whole human beings.
Yes, you always won on your own terms, but on their playing field... You allowed yourself to be co-opted into their reality; winning at the wrong game means losing 'you'.
Fast growth forces you into a higher cost environment, and if you don’t have the systems and ability to handle those costs, you’ll end up paying for it.