James can sustain physical effort longer than almost anyone he knows. But his sensory gain is equally high — meaning input that doesn't register for most people hits him hard. The endurance and the sensitivity aren't a contradiction. They're the same system running at high capacity across both axes. He's not weak for leaving early. He's an Endurance-Built-Highly Sensitive who used up a different resource than everyone else in the room.
What changed
"I pick the corner table now. I wear earplugs at concerts. I stopped apologising for leaving early and started planning for it. Small changes. I get twice as much out of a night because I'm not fighting my own system the whole time."