I have been playing guitar on and off since college and it is one of my biggest joys and a great way to relax. I am self-taught so am missing a few key ingredie

I have been playing guitar on and off since college and it is one of my biggest joys and a great way to relax. I am self-taught so am missing a few key ingredients to really master the instrument but it remains one of my favorite hobbies. I was put off learning to play guitar in high school by more experienced guitar playing classmates (as well as an actual clerk at a music store) who scoffed and sneered that someone would have the audacity to learn guitar so 'late'. The refrain was "you'll never be good, what's the point?" (Of course, these were high schoolers and I shouldn't have been so easily swayed, but as a shy teenager hearing these types of things make you crawl back into your shell very quickly.) I bring this up on this site because in many instances this "don't bother, the playing guitar club is FULL" attitude was prevalent when I began to learn programming around 5 years ago with the hope of changing careers (I'm mid-30s). While seeking out guidance in various forums online it became clear to me that to many experienced programmers it was inconceivable that I'd ever be successful as a programmer while starting so 'late' and I shouldn't even bother. The reasons were plenty: I didn't have a CS degree, I wasn't much interested in low-level programming (at the time), I didn't have an interest at getting a job at the big 4 and just wanted to write small web and mobile apps to start (the horror!), I didn't much care for committing to memory every sort algorithm in existence, etc. In short, how dare I knock on the door of their prestigious club? Fortunately I ditched the learning online route and took the bootcamp plunge while it was just kicking off, where I found a similar community of people and some really awesome instructors who were extremely patient and encouraging. I can't speak for all bootcamp students but for me at least it remains, years later, one of the best decisions I've made and has transformed my career and life for the better. Will I ever be a virtuoso, Carnegie Hall-playing guitarist or a "rock star" engineer at Google working on the most cutting edge AI? No, probably not, and I'm OK with that. Maybe in my next life. But what I'm doing is making me happy and is a constant source of new knowledge and discovery. I would just hope that in the future, whatever our expertise(s) we are more careful not to be so quick to dismiss new learners as well as other interested people in other industries and walks of life.