I used to feel the same. For a long time I got away with using C and python for everything. They paired well and I always came away feeling that my code was expressed elegantly enough for me. C was for stuff that had to be fast, python for things that were more functional or meta. Then I started a project that needed to be faster than python but also required some heavy-ish meta-programming. I wrangled for way too long with the C preprocessor, and while way more powerful than I had imagined, still fell well short of being able to do what I needed without it looking and feeling like a dog that had to be put down. I think I would have needed a code-generating script to do it and to me that sounds disgusting. But C++ templates did exactly what I needed. They look awful and I still don't even understand my own code when I try to go back and read it. But it made me understand and appreciate that C++ does have a place, and for certain projects it might actually be the best choice. I'm sure some fan boys of the newer C++ descendents (rust/golang/zig/et al) will disagree.