It seems to me that part of the problem is comparing yourself to others, often others at the very top of their range. Though at least it's to real people and not to Heinlein or Rand heroes or the little mutant super-children Wilmar Shiras gave me an inferiority complex with. One decent point my literary heroes did make is that you're you and others are others and your focus is properly directed towards what you are doing in your own right.
But - that piling up accomplishments can feel empty if you don't feel right deep down within you. One suggested cure: take out a journal and start with "If I could be 5% more intellectually independent, I would ----" and "If I were to be 5% more honest with myself, I would....."
And that if you track a fear or a feeling that makes no sense back to what others have told you or how you were reared as a child, then the problem you think you have isn't the one you really have. The one you really have is that Mom or Ms. Grundy in the 3rd grade or the Rev. Mr. Literal Interpretation still has the evil eye on you long past their time. And that Alice had the right idea. "Why...you're nothing but a pack of cards!"
But - that piling up accomplishments can feel empty if you don't feel right deep down within you. One suggested cure: take out a journal and start with "If I could be 5% more intellectually independent, I would ----"
and "If I were to be 5% more honest with myself, I would....."
And that if you track a fear or a feeling that makes no sense back to what others have told you or how you were reared as a child, then the problem you think you have isn't the one you really have. The one you really have is that Mom or Ms. Grundy in the 3rd grade or the Rev. Mr. Literal Interpretation still has the evil eye on you long past their time. And that Alice had the right idea. "Why...you're nothing but a pack of cards!"
I hope this helps.
Pat, wrestling with these issues since 1939.
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