My Privilege Wrapped In Gratitude

Recent world events have had me thinking about privilege, whose shoulders it rests on and whose it doesn’t. And it’s a tricky subject because no matter how open minded I try to be about my own privilege, I don’t know what I don’t know. And so it is I remain open and listen. Knowing I never have anything completely sorted out as learning is a series of shelves that I can rest on a while, only till I’m ready to move to the next shelf and learn more.

So while I’m sure I’ll look back at this piece of writing in a few years time and see where I was at, what I was yet to learn and exactly what I was blinded to, I believe it’s important to still be proud of the progression and how far I’ve travelled so far.

So this is what I believe and recognise about my privilege right now and why it’s my responsibility to be incredibly grateful for it.

Opportunity is my greatest privilege. It is the thing that allows my talents and ability to actually get me somewhere. There are a hell of a lot of smart people with a tonne of potential that are pulling carts in India, sold into slavery, prisoners held unjustly for a myriad of reasons, sitting behind meat grinders in the meat markets (we once spoke to a man grinding meat in the Jabalpur Meat Market who had a PHD but there was no future for him in that field as it was a case of who you knew), or living in a circumstance that places a very real ceiling on their opportunity.

I on the other hand live in a country where opportunity is everywhere. While it may very well be difficult to see the winding path through the obstacles to capitalise on it, it is definitely there. I could be as hard working as I am, as smart as I am, as ambitious as I am and just as talented, but opportunity is the vehicle that converts. And unfortunately, in the western first world, it is also the thing that most people don’t even realise they have, lack the foresight to be grateful for it and even worse, can’t be bothered to take advantage of it.

I am more successful today than I ever imagined in my wildest dreams as a teenager. It has all been because of persistent effort in taking advantage of tiny opportunities. Preparing myself to jump even before the chances came. Overreach so you’re race fit before the race has been organised or even announced. I see that we owe this to those who lack chances and opportunity.

Another privilege is being Male. This is argued for and against but seriously, it removes a whole swathe of obstacles compared to those encountered by a Woman. I don’t have to take months out of my career to bear children. I don’t have to deal with the surges of hormones that are a natural occurrence for a Woman. I don’t have to break down stereotypes or traditions in order to step into most career roles, certainly not in construction anyway. While there are always exceptions to this tale, for me, I see the huge advantage I have in my field by being Male.

I am White. Another fiercely debated topic, but I know and have witnessed the racism first hand but have the option of ignoring it if I choose to. Yes I can be a good example and stand up against poor, unfair behaviour, but I get to choose to do that. I have an option that a Black person does not have, where I live and in my field of work anyway. I’m not going to go into the rights and wrongs of the behaviour of races and colours. There is evil in everyone in as much as there is good. But my point is that I have a choice, an upper hand so to speak, and I recognise that and do not take it for granted.

I am of sound mind. I have a very healthy mind, a positive outlook and a propensity to seek out the good rather than dwell on the bad. Maybe this is brain chemicals, maybe it’s personality but it is a huge advantage. It keeps my eyes on the horizons and eagerly awaiting the next chance for positive advancement. I am naturally confident, friendly, and outgoing and those things alone are a huge advantage.

I am Physically Healthy. All my body parts operate the way they are supposed to. I am not crippled, diseased, disabled or stunted. I don’t have to worry about my body keeping up with my pace of life or my ambitions. Yes I could be fitter but that’s a matter of priority. Again it’s a choice and I am privileged enough to be able to make a decision without being physically hampered. I’ll never win a Gold Medal at the Olympics and I certainly don’t have a frame like the Rock Johnson but hell, I’m very very healthy.

This one’s a funny one but not so funny for some. I’m not ugly! I’m not Model material either but my appearance is not offensive or hard to behold. It’s a real advantage. My door isn’t being broken down by the opposite sex and I don’t have Women hitting on me after a car accident, (this happened to two friends of mine on separate occasions haha) but I am not ugly. This is a huge benefit to me.

I am creative and have moderate talent in a number of creative areas. I can sing, write poetry and play musical instruments. I am not tone deaf and I realise that there are a number of ways this goes in my favour. I can shed stress through expression and have numerous choices for creative outlets and can pick and choose as I see fit. This helps cut through the ice in my relationships with other people, but it also gives me ways to clam down without reliance on others. It is a privilege.

Now with all that privilege, it would seem petty and trivial to complain about my shortcomings, my weaknesses and any blindness I may have to situations I can’t empathise with. Mostly because I have enough avenues available to circumnavigate most obstacles.

That, in my mind, is the essence of privilege, and we are drunk with it. So drunk in fact that we are blinded to the magnitude of it. Even those with open eyes and ears to hear, the most empathetic of us, struggle to comprehend what it was like for Prisoners of War to kill fellow prisoners in the concentration camps just to eat their brains due to the level of their starvation. We think we work hard. But we don’t pull heavy carts for 16 hrs a day, seven days a week, for all of our short lives to barely be able to feed our children. We don’t have to watch them starve before us, going blind from lack of nutrition. We only have to limit the amount of excessive junk food our kids eat for fear they’ll get fat.

So while there may be many levels of inequality that give some of us more privilege than others, we all have so much to be grateful for. That doesn’t mean we don’t stand up against the injustices within our society. In fact it means that for those with the greatest amount of privilege, there is no need to operate out of a sense of scarcity. There is no need to be scared of change or fear a certain redundancy due to an evening out of opportunity by leveling the playing feild. There is enough opportunity for everyone to be allowed a fair path to their potential.

The very least we owe to those less fortunate is to be grateful for our privileges and opportunities and how good we have it. We can afford to be generous because we are wealthy beyond belief… For the most part, we have absolutely no idea what it’s like to not be privileged.

Gratitude should be our Go To… Always