I remember learning in Humanities class how personality is the likely result of genetics and/or upbringing. Well, after doing some crude psychoanalysis on myself, I decided that my shyness and reclusiveness are the result of events in my childhood. I think it's probably the same way with a lot of younger siblings.

I recall how all through my youth, my older brother was better than me at everything we did. A lot may have just been becauase he had an age advantage over me, but he was stonger, faster, better looking, and smarter (with a lot less effort) than me.
I remember, in the computer game, Fallout, there were 2 possible character perks: "gifted" and "skilled." Gifted was having been born with innate talent, whereas being skilled was having achieved ability through continual practice and refinement. Where my brother was gifted, I guess I was more skilled- I had to try a lot harder to be good at stuff.

Constantly doing worse than my brother and rarely earning praise, I developed a sense of inadequacy- thinking that I wasn't good for anything. I was afraid to try new things and express my thoughts for fear of not being good enough.
Well, somewhere around middle school, I decided maybe I should focus my energies on activities that my brother didn't do, and in this way stem further disappointment. I joined the math club, and started taking kung fu, for example. To some extent I guess it was successful- I finally started developing some semblance of self-worth / self-confidence. The passage of time kind of leveled the playing field between my brother and me, but not before I developed something of an inferiority complex.

Hmmm... I forgot where I was going with this entry. =/ Oh well.