Self-made
I have a problem with the "self-made" moniker. There's a certain pride I take in not having been raised in an uppercrust family but now being able to enjoy the niceties of middle-class life: travel, a car, a home we can call our own, etc. I thought to myself, quietly, "Hey, I'm a self-made 'success.'" But looking back over the past weekend, celebrating my birthday, I stopped to think about how lucky I am with my friends, family, and colleagues. I thought maybe I'm not as "self-made" as the name suggests. My life today is but a sum of all the lessons and opportunities the people in my life afforded me. And while I wasn't born to a life of financial privilege, I still had a leg up compared to my cohort. I had parents who had the means, will, and grit to see to it that I had the right life lessons and education. That in itself is privilege. Even those who are "self-made" successes despite not having the support of fam...