Success

In an 'arm-chair' mood, I pause and reflect on observations related to how people define personal successes and what causes angst. Correlating the answer to my own experiences, I (over?)-simplify the conclusions. There are two factors that determine a person's success: contribution and reward. An imbalance between the two is insufficient to drive one to despair - a perceived lack of either factor will drive one to despair.

Therefore, there are two ways of coping with failure - either burn the midnight oil correcting the balance, or change your perception.