Hardship vs Victimhood
What is the difference between Hardship and Victimhood?
Everyone experiences hardship; this is true to a varying degree because the world is not a level playing field. Hardship is something you don’t usually have a choice for, such as the family, society and location you are born into.
For example, someone born in a Favela in Brazil compared to someone born in a first-world city such as Sydney. You can commit a crime in Sydney, go to jail for 100 years, and still experience better living conditions than in a Favela or similar township.
Victimhood, on the other hand, is a choice.
We choose to feel like victims only when we see situations from our perspective.
For those of us living in the first world, and if you are reading this right now, there are more than 1 billion people in the world worse off than you who live in extreme poverty. This is due to circumstance, not choice.
We are all guilty of wearing the victim mentality hat, and we will all benefit from checking ourselves every time we notice ourselves sliding into that state of mind.
The point is not to stop working towards your goals because you should be happy with what you have and where you are. When you miss out on that overseas holiday because the flights are too expensive or you have other responsibilities - a simple reminder to be grateful for what you do have will help you feel better in the moment.
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