I'm looking forward to today, because there really is no other way to approach this day that's going to happen whether I like it or not. I'm fortunate because there's nothing planned for today that I'm going to dread--no awful meetings or trainings or court dates or potentially unpleasant situations that I know about lay before me. Even on days that promise such situations, though, it is possible to look forward to the day in general, knowing that it may have some moments that aren't so nice. After all, each day holds much to experience and much to learn, and even the unpleasant experiences can teach us much about ourselves and life.
So I'm looking forward to today--so what? Does that mean that I'm one of the privileged people who have everything that I need and don't have to worry about where my next meal is going to come from? It's pretty easy to look forward to a day when that's the case, isn't it? I don't have any relatives who make my life miserable; I'm old enough to make my own decisions without my parents controlling me; I live in a place where I don't have to worry about my safety as I walk around town. While I'm not wealthy at all and my wife and I need to do all we can to keep expenses down, I do have many privileges that others don't share. The important thing is that I acknowledge those privileges and appreciate the heck out of them, because they do make my life much more pleasant in many ways.
That said, though, it's also important that I give myself a bit of credit--where I live and how I live have a lot to do with choices that I've made in the past. When I chose the career that I was going to pursue, when my wife and I chose the place where we wanted to live, when we chose not to spend extravagantly as soon as we have a little bit of money, we made choices that would have obvious effects on each day of our lives from then on. And while we still have trying days from time to time, the choices that we've made in the past have been, as much as possible, to follow our hearts and help other people and not focus on money or power or luxury. We certainly like to have a bit of money in the bank just in case, but the work we've chosen has always been work that somehow contributes to the lives of others. And that helps us to look forward to each workday, knowing that we are doing something that does make a difference to someone.
There are people who will try to make us feel guilty for having privilege, but I'll have none of that. As long as I take full advantage of all that's available to me and I don't abuse it or take it for granted, then I'm simply living the life I was given. As long as I don't try to put anyone else down in order to maintain what I have, then I'm okay.
I believe that the most important thing to keep in mind is that with privilege comes responsibility. Because we have privilege, it's up to us to take advantage of that privilege to do what we can for others, when we can. That doesn't mean that we have to spend sixty hours a week working with underprivileged people--we don't need to give up the good parts of our lives just because others don't have the same things. But we do need to find ways that we can use what we have to help to improve the lives of others. We all have our special gifts that we can use to contribute to life, even in small ways, and if we don't have to scrape and struggle to get by, that means that we should have some time and some resources that we can share.
How can we do this? Again, small ways are appropriate for most of us. Many supermarkets have donation boxes for local food banks; many thrift stores that specialize in providing for the underprivileged can use some of the things that we have so that they can go to someone who may need them more than we do; underprivileged students may need tutoring in something we know or mentoring, working on life skills; many churches have groups and programs that work with and for people who have experienced loss or who are having a difficult time making ends meet.
The important thing for ourselves, though, is that we don't take for granted the privileges that we do have. If we're able to appreciate that privilege and make the most of it in the form of contributions to others, then we'll definitely be living our lives fully and making the most of the lives we've been given.
No comments:
Post a Comment