You may very well be right, GM. Does that, however, not assume we are all cut from the same cloth? If we vary in our motivations, might we not also vary in outcomes, particularly those consciously pursued.
Perhaps the absence of some formerly active members at least suggests the possibility that some of us have come to a different end result, and those of us who remain represent a somewhat selective sample.
One observation I'd share from my own life. For the most part, I've accepted a rather negative self appraisal. My level of impulse control, self discipline, or whatever you might call it, was minimal... I didn't believe sufficiently in my capacity for either. More often than not, I simply went with impulse, wherever it might lead. (And more often than not, I came to regret impulsive acts.)
Honestly, I don't know if the results would have been different if at, age 15, 18, 22 or 40, I had sought to consciously alter the way I thought of myself or disciplined my behavior. I fight that negative self assessment and inclination towards impulse anew each day. Old habits are hard to break.
I don't know exactly what I'm doing, how long I may persist, if I will succeed, or even how I will define or recognize success.
