Who is Superior? Response to a Comment...

"John M said... I can relate to Ivy envy. I live near Boston on the East Coast (Harvard, MIT, etc.). It shuts you out of some really special positions. Most of suffer from not living up to our expectations. We percieve others as being superior to us, and that we are failures for not being perfect. I look at decisions that I have to make in the future and I realize that compromises have to made. There are many people with ADD who are successful. There are many people who aren't book smart who are successful. Our perception of success may seem difficult because of the challenges we face. I am not perfect, but that will not stop me, nor should it stop you from being successful."

John,

Thanks for leaving me a comment. I'm not sure if you'll return to my blog or not, but I figured I'd respond to our comment in a new post.

I figured that the Boston area is similiar to the Bay Area in the way that either you're "one of them" or you aren't. I can't complain about the whole situation much, though, because I just love being around smart people. It inspires me. I'd rather live here than in middle-of-nowhere hicksville, where 50 percent of the population doesn't know how to multiply past single digits. But I'm also glad I'm not the only one who feels such Ivy Envy.

It's interesting that we all view other people as being superior to us. I guess everyone does that, even people who are extremely smart with... proper pedigree. I realize that success is not defined by what school you attended, and that there are plenty of people who are successful sans any degree at all. Yet I feel trapped by my understanding of myself and my abilities. I'm terrified of risk, even though compared to some I'm quite a risk taker (I moved away from home for college and never looked back, I live on my own now, support myself, etc, etc). I figure one thing required for success is the ability to see failure as a byproduct, albeit hopefully a temporary one, of any opportunity worth chasing.

I'm sure ADD isn't what will hold me back in the long run. So I have a hard time focusing and It's in my nature to be terribly disorganized. But I'm a big idea person, and when I put my mind to something I'm always the person that puts in 200 percent.

I'm now tempted to write an entry on age in the workplace, so I'm going to sign off here for this entry and move on to the next.

Again thanks for your comment John. I hope you return to my blog. I love comments. :)