Today the map quizzes came back.  Overall the professor was disappointed in the class results, apparently there were a few flat-out fails among the 20+ students.  My score, though, was okay.  A couple of cities and one of the rivers did get by me, but everything else was right on and I finished with 17 out of 20, much better than on the US map quiz.  Considering there was a little of everything -- some countries, a couple of rivers, a mountain range, and cities -- to locate, I'm very okay with the score.
So, still trying to make some inroads on being happier as a person, it's just that it's...well, hard.  There just feels like there's so much about me that needs to change that it feels overwhelming. The random positive stuff is getting better, I'm responsible at work at apparently I can be pretty funny, too...but other stuff is slow in coming.  Part of it, by concession, is simply that because I'm not used to thinking this way, it is true that I'm having some trouble believing some of my potential (there's that inner cynic again).  And I don't think it's helping my mindset that I'm not having the easiest time accepting that I've had to use improvised tactics for my history course because I basically shot myself in the foot immediately and thus ended up in a big hole quickly.  Obviously there are signs that this will work out but it irks me that I don't have a chance at getting what I want out of the course.  Guess I'll be keeping the textbooks afterwards.