Dear Larry,
I’ve just read your e-mail and I’m so sorry about the news. Having a lower salary than your colleagues is a discouraging thing, I feel you…
I’ve also experienced this problem. When I first learned it, I was in a great shock! Asking people about their salary is generally unethical. But I was really unpleased with it, that made me build courage and ask to some of my close friends. Turned out I was earning the least among them.
I felt very unappreciated and jealous. However, that didn’t lead me to any discourage nor anger. First, I’ve tried to get noticed by my boss: I got involved with many projects, helped my colleagues with their work. Unfortunately, that didn’t work properly. I was appreciated but not the way I wanted.
I finally built the courage and asked for a raise from the boss. Yet I still wasn’t happy with the offered salary. We ended up seperating our ways. Then I started to look for different opportunities and got a great offer.
My advice for you would be to be always aware of the different opportunities around you. You will not work for them forever. If you really like your job, please, always remember to be patient and kind to your colleagues and your boss.