Welcome. It's never the wrong time to start using the right currencies. BTC is infinitely better than Fiat. But for my needs, Monero is what I always hoped Bitcoin would be. Shortly after learning about Monero, digging into a bit and testing it out, I realized it was what I'd been looking for in a digital currency all along. I will always respect BTC for bringing cryptocurrency into the mainstream, and it definitely still has its place. But I've come to believe XMR is truly where it's at.
I think the realizations that you came to and shared here in your post is similar to the ones many more will come to in the future which is why I believe increased use and adoption moving forward is inevitable.