I'll add to part of your statement. I'm 5'7" and in school people told me I was short. I felt self conscious about it up until through dating.

For me, what it did is made me the most confident person I know - or frankly have ever met. It made me know myself. What I've found is taller guys, generally lack strong self confidence because people defer to them without real work. I then realized most people are followers, and question themselves constantly.

Once past the general "people look naturally to a taller person", I found that I can outclass them. My dad independently found the same thing, and once told me "To find the man with the lowest self confidence, just look up".