We all have experienced our fair share of struggle, right? It wouldn’t be a hard claim to make that our lives have been shaped by the challenges and hardships we’ve overcome in the past. But what exactly in our lives have we overcome? I’m sure you would be able to tell me this and that, but comparing struggles is difficult to measure and almost always done in bad taste.
For nearly everyone reading this, however, to even compare struggles is irrelevant. Because for you and me, it is impossible to experience struggle. It would be pointless to even compare. Of course, with every unpopular opinion, there are exceptions for the rule, but true struggle cannot coexist with opportunity. Any struggle can almost always be avoided with a bit of chance and a lot of hard work.
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Opportunity leads to way. Do you want more money? Apply for a better job. Feeling stuck? Move states. Work too much? Finish your degree. Admittedly, these solutions are a bit naive for the sake of simplicity. Real solutions are difficult and take large amounts of effort and work but there are always solutions, however, it is ignorant to make the claim that our struggles can bear the weight with those of others without opportunity clawing at their heels.
Every struggle we have ever faced has come with an opportunity. No matter how big or small, the existence of the opportunity counters the struggle. It is not my intention to undermine the difficult journey many of us have been put through. Yet I feel it is necessary to challenge the reality of our most difficult experiences because it is far too easy to forget our good fortune. And it should be in our good fortune that our struggles come with solutions.
However, as bleak as our future may seem, we can always climb out. For us, we are lucky that we have been able to exemplify our struggles in the way that we do. How is it that we can justify our own struggles with the lingering possibility to eliminate them, or at the very least begin to?
Our problems primarily exist in a process of perpetual complacency. We feel sorry for ourselves while we complain to our neighbors about our misfortunes, and often it is our misfortunes that are blessings in disguise. That wish for more money? What a privilege it is to be making a salary. You can apply to a hundred jobs tomorrow if you want to. That stuck feeling? What a privilege you have to be able to move freely and safely in the United States.
Real struggle is bleak, and it does not come with solutions. We are so lucky because we do not know what it feels to be forced as a soldier. We do not walk outside and fear for our safety. We are not denied access to education or a proper income. It may be foolish to say that we do not struggle, but I would say it is foolish to say our struggles can stand with those of the less fortunate.