Wow, Dragonfly, I didn't know your history, and I truly can say that you are a success story! Very impressive! Manicminer, thanks for the story about your ex-boss. I'm in college now, and I can't shake the feeling that if I mess up now I'll be screwed for the rest of my life. Apparently that's not necessarily true...

Roadrunner, I really wish I could see myself as a success simply because I am fighting. But a large part of me can't stop defining success as an endpoint. I've spent so long thinking that success meant a high salary from a job that would bring me a lot of satisfaction and respect, an attractive and loving spouse that I would absolutely adore, children and pets if we want them, the ability to make a (HUGE) difference in areas where I would like to help, and, perhaps most importantly...the ability to look myself in the eye in the mirror in the morning and know that I am strong, smart, beautiful, and capable. If I were to be a success, I would literally have a Global Assessment of Functioning score near 100. It's basically a fairy tale. And did I mention that older, successful, fairytale me is also the author of several published novels? Haha. I need to be more realistic.