One of the things that I find so... dissuading... about talking to bike people is that "you MUST DO THIS" and "THE RULES." I don't buy into a lot of that.

However, you'll find that the more stuff you do that's opposed to what a majority of cyclists do in the name of 'your personal comfort zone' those things are generally bad and there's a reason a lot of people that are experienced with stuff advise, strongly advise and are vehemently opinionated against certain things. In some cases, it's because it's against "THE RULES" or just because it's not their personal preference... not because there's anything wrong with it.

Some of the things that I've found "the reason" for "the right way" by personal experience:

The reason a lot of people use drop handlebars is because it offers a lot of different hand positions. After, say, mile 7 on flat bars- my hands are killing me. With drops, I'll ride on the hoods for a while, on the flats for a while, on the corner for a while on the ramps for a while.... I rarely ride in the drops or hooks- but they're there if I want them. The biggest thing that's still scary to me is the lack of options for shifting on drop handlebars. Back in the day, it was downtube shifters- having to let go of the handlebar and reach down to shift... some people like bar end shifters, some people have other solutions. Now the big thing is brifters- integrated brake levers and shifters. It's all about weighing the benefits drops can give you vs. the drawbacks that drops have.

Cushy seats- it's really good to be comfortable on your bike and a lot of being comfortable is not having your rear end hurt. So the obvious thing is to make the seat squishier and give more, right? Not so much- the longer you ride on a squishy seat, the more it cuts off circulation. A short ride will be more comfortable- but anything more than a couple of miles will start causing circulation problems because you're sinking into it, instead of it supporting you where you should be supported.

Sitting with your foot on the ground. There's no reason, on a road bike, to be seated when stopped at a light. Just stand. Or sit with your foot on the curb. You already have found that with your bike low enough that you can touch the ground while seated- your knees are WAY WAY WAY too high.

Foot retention- The idea of having my feet stuck to the pedals was terrifying. "what if I need to get off the pedals in a hurry?" Somebody here said something to the effect of "you're going to fall down a couple of times- after that, you learn, and you won't fall." It was the truth. I use toe clips (the cages and straps). I fell down and made a clown out of myself a couple of times. But the benefits outweigh any fear. Now, going without any foot retention feels weird and unsafe to me. I never got into clipless pedals just because I don't want to have to have special shoes to ride. If I were a "serious" rider, I would do clipless in a heartbeat.

I don't mean to be throwing "THE RULES" at you, or say "YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!!!! YOU CAN'T ENJOY THIS!!!" Right now, I think you're justifying bad ergonomics and bad habits on the fear of doing new stuff that's kind of scary at first. IMO- it's best to get the scary bit over- beat it. Kind of like riding a bike- it's scary at first- you have to keep moving or else you fall down- you learn to do stuff or else you fall down. Otherwise you find yourself doing other bad things to cover for the bad things that you do for not doing it "right" in the first place. Find what you can get comfortable with when you "take off your training wheels." Just like anything- you're going to find stuff you like and stuff you don't like.

Good luck and best wishes.