… there are consequences attached to the way we pop out. Consequences we have little or no control over. It would be nice if when we pop out, there is a little manual or folder included with a few necessary information, maybe a SWOT analysis, likes and dislikes, challenges we are likely to encounter, troubleshooting guide, similar to what we find at the end of the manual for most products. This woud have come in handy and be a tremendous help to our parents or carers, saving them lots of sleepless nights and premature aging. And as we grow older such information would have been helpful to navigate life and save a lot of trial and error. If nothing else, it would have cut the preparation time for interviews. As soon as you hear the question of ‘what are your strengths and …?’ just pull out the relevant page from the folder.
Obviously we don’t pop out with such information, so we have to go through the tideous process of figuring out who we are, what makes us tick and the unique consequences of arriving the way we did. Something simple as knowing that if you arrive with a certain shape you must be prepared to spend a fortune for alteration as nothing off the peg will ever fit. If you are short, and you don’t want to be round in later life, then you can’t afford to eat as much as other people your age. If you are female you must be prepared to navigate a sexist world, if you are black, develop the steel to deal with racism, if you are disabled, certain aspect of life will be unfair, if you are male and white, welcome to a life of priveledge, but you have to figure out how to make best use of the privileges.
The realities of our life we must face, but nobody tells us this, we all must figure it out. Some do early, others take longer, some haven’t got a clue what is coming. If you are born pretty, it comes with its advantages and challenges. If you are shortchanged in the looks department, you have your issues to deal with.
There is no right or wrong way to pop out, but there are definitely easier ways and there are more difficult ones. Equal opportunity sounds nice and politically correct. However in the true sense, equal opportunity does not exist, we are all different and the opportunities are also different. There is no way to truly measure the worth or value of a human being, or to measure the opportunities presented, so there is no way to ensure equal opportunities.
The earlier we understand the consequences of our birth, the easier life becomes and the less likely we are to get hung up on issues and take things too personal. It is what it is, ugly people have less opprtunites than beautiful people, this is statistically proven. As the world stands, black people will face more institutional racism especially in the western world. It is what it is. Why we must continue to push against the status quo we must still have an understanding of where things are and where we stand.
Knowledge is power, self reflection, self analysis are key. We must know who we are and the consequences of being born the way we are.
Beautiful Ivory 