I saw the most profound thing on the Oprah Winfrey show the other day. I know, I know talk shows? Profundity? Oprah?

Anyway, she was interviewing Renee Zellweger and they were talking about fame. Interestingly, they agreed that fame wasn t something that changed who you are on the inside rather it changed people s reaction to you.

Lately, I ve been considering that thought. Sitting here in my office, I feel no different than I felt when I was three, thirteen, or twenty-three but how people have treated me has changed.

Friends that Adam and I have known for years seem to think we re different, because we own these cars or live in this house or that house. I didn t realize until I thought about how I live my life, more objectively, that it seems different from the outside than it feels from the inside.

Adam and I talk about this all the time because we see ourselves as poor kids. I remember growing up in the basement of my grandmother s home in East New York and Adam remembers using the free lunch card because his mother was on welfare.

What I fear more than anything else is being that poor kid from East New York, Brooklyn. What I see in Adam is a fear of being that kid in the free lunch line. That fear has been the genesis of what we call striving.

We re always on the lookout for the next best car, or house, or whatever can shake off the poor kid feeling yet it clings like bad body odor. I think, though, we may have just turned the corner on those feelings. I think, for now, we re going to stop striving so hard and start living more.

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