Lesley, your experience as a kid throws another really interesting perspective into the conversation. When you talk about your parents pushing you out of your comfort zone, it makes me think that's pretty important. Sometimes I wonder if there isn't too much focus on self esteem these days—like I want so badly to protect my kids from thinking they aren't good at something that I end up enabling them to avoid it altogether. But although you can see in retrospect how most of that experience was good for you, it's also true that it would have been nice to understand and embrace your solo inclinations at a younger age. That's one of the big things Jason and I are trying to do as parents—understand not just the natural talents our kids have, but also their unique personalities, and how those play into their daily activities.

Chuck, it's very wise of you to key in on the embarrassment and pride aspects of being a poor sport. Although it seems pretty obvious now, when I'm not feeling like a bad sport, I think we all have a hard time identifying what's really at the root of it, in the moment. You're lucky that anger (and maybe embarrassment too?) makes you try harder, not give up. I'm sure that has a lot to do with your professional success. As a kid, playing sports and games, if I was losing badly or messing up a lot, I just wanted to walk away (and sometimes I did). Now I have more mixed responses, thanks to some maturity. :) I think the responses are tied to confidence. If it's something I feel confident about, like writing, I can handle failure better, and it makes me want to work harder. If it's something I'm mediocre at, or something I think I'm *supposed* to be good at but I'm really not (like Scrabble), then failure still makes me want to quit (even if I don't).