The power of privilege

priv·i·lege

/ˈpriv(ə)lij/

noun
a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.

How do you react when the topic of privilege comes up? Why is that?

It's very easy for most of us to quickly make a list of the hurdles and disadvantages that stand between us and our ideal life, but what happens when we acknowledge our privilege? I can think of two very significant things right away.

Gratitude.

For many of us, if we're honest with ourselves about our "progress", it probably has less to do with how far we've come and more to do with where we started. If we're honest with ourselves, it doesn't matter how much we've earned, we've probably been given more. This should result in a healthy dose of gratitude, and a better outlook on life in general.

Compassion.

Once we learn to focus on what we have instead of what we lack, it becomes a lot easier to see what others lack. When we have identified the advantages we have that we didn't earn, we become less likely to subconsciously attribute someone else's hardship to lack of effort.

When we see how much we have we're so much more likely to give to those who don't, no matter how much we really have.