Do you know who my parents are?
Some of us are born into more privilege than others. This could be related to race or gender, but it also can be greatly affected simply by who your parents are. You can certainly see this if someone is child of Bill Gates or Elon Musk, but I see it happen on much smaller scales and it’s super interesting to see what people do with the bit of extra privilege they’ve been given.
At a church I used to attend, two of the staff members had youth that were involved with the high school programs. The “privilege”, as it were, was that these students had parents that worked at the church. One took it as a free pass and the other took it as an added responsibility.
Tina used it as a free pass. She would work to make everything go in her favor, ignore the rules, and simply cite “I can do whatever I want because Mrs. X is my mother”.
Patrick was the opposite. Him and his siblings were among the most well-grounded, pleasant, and helpful kids you’d ever meet. When asked about it, he’d say “I need to do good and serve well because Mrs. Z is my mother”.
If you have any degree of power in a situation, you can decide how to use it. You can use that power to force others to bend to your will, or you can use it to set an example for others on how to live. You may not be CEO of a big company, or even the leader of your team at work, but there are situations in your life when you’re elevated above others around you.
Will you demonstrate how to be a good human, or will you use it to your advantage to show your power over others?
Originally published at https://www.mickmel.com on May 25, 2023.