[colefichter]

> to me, success is when you've managed to do something that a lot of people can't do.

> I just have a different perception on what it means to be successful.

Yep, I think these two things are the crux of the issue. The first is probably quite different to how lots of people view things. It can be really painful to evaluate your own worth/success relatively against others.

For many, I think, success is much less a relative issue than an absolute issue. Most who desire to be happy, loved, materially comfortable, and parenting probably do view success as achieving those things. Besides, if those things are what your peers aspire to as well, then you might even be doing better, relative to them, anyway!