Privilege

How many times have you heard an old man yell: "back in the day, we never had the things you young folk have today, life was so much harder..."? The truth is most people, especially teenagers, would brush them off as senile fools who've lost grip of the world. It takes a lot sometimes to sit back and reflect on how much privilege we really have, something reading a lot of sociology blogs has compelled me to do (particularly those on feminism).

It is true though that most people are ignorant of the level of privilege they actually have particularly in developed countries. We take so many things for granted especially those essential clean water, food and a roof over our heads. Despite knowing this, no matter how much we try, we will always be somewhat ignorant and still whinge about the about the fact we didn't receive some consumable, or perhaps the fact some person we like is not reciprocating or maybe things didn't quite go your way for a change (common problems off the top of my head). First world problems indeed feel like the worst problems in the world for oneself but really that's only because one's only world is first-world.

'Heterosexual white male' is considered the easiest difficulty in life (something i liked from a sociology blog) and really, my life has similar settings but instead replace the white with Asian. I'm young, fit, healthy, and relatively bright at times so then why am i complaining about my life? It really puts things into perspective when you hear about the problems that other people face. None strikes me more than the other day when i almost broke down as i was recounting another girl's blog. A girl who's sole dream was to become a doctor throughout her childhood. All the pressures and insecurities leading up to her interview, and her eventual late acceptance were problematic enough, but the top it all off - she has a chronic lung disease. Here i am complaining about how i couldn't be bothered to get up in the morning because i was lazy, or just didn't want to face the world while a girl who wants to be her goddamn best every day is bed-ridden by illness, barely able to breathe. This is a girl who has 34% of her lung function but continues to fight everyday with a smile, striving to be everything she can and despite having on 34% of her lung, she gives 100% of her heart. "...it isn’t a piece of paper that makes a doctor; it is the person. And that person isn’t perfect, they make mistakes, they don’t always get full marks, they breakdown occasionally and they battle on. They do what they believe in and help others to their best ability day in and day out. Who are they? They are a doctor." This girl represents the person i want to be, the person i strive to be but always fall up short and whinge everyday probably more than she ever has in her life time. Why do i complain? Why am i even wasting time thinking about my so called problems? This is the thought process i go through every time but it resolves with the same message, why am i wasting time when i could be out doing something to benefit society or at least, benefit myself.

So yes, there will rants a-plenty whinging about first world problems over the years, and there will be times wasted simply sulking about a problem but at the end of the day, i will stop, realise that there are people out there with so much bigger problems. People who don't even get a chance to chase their dreams. People who aren't nearly as privileged as myself, and this chance is what will drive me to succeed. Like she says, "they breakdown occasionally and they battle on" - that's who i want to be. So lixxi, know that you are an inspiration for me and keep fighting.

Realising how minor my problems really are so bye.
Read more: http://lixxi.wordpress.com/