I have worked hard to reach the level of comfort that I enjoy, but there are times when I feel not just fortunate, but even a bit spoiled. Many of the advantages that I enjoy have come to me from simply being born in the right place to the right parents and the right time. My mother and father were loving, kind and wise. I never experienced even a moment of abuse from either of them. I felt safe in their care. When my father died a multitude of relatives rallied to the aid of my family. We were never alone. While we existed on a very small income, my mother was savvy enough to stretch our budget with her ingenious ways of running a household. There was never a day when I did not feel thoroughly safe and secure in her care. She made it seem right to conserve and sacrifice when much of the world subsisted on far less than we had. Mama believed that if the roof did not leak and there was a pot of soup on the stove all was right with our little world.

There was a time when I might have been destined to a traditional life of servitude to a man, but I was born just when women were asserting themselves. They were breaking barriers that had existed for centuries. Colleges opened their doors to me and nobody thought it was strange for me to think for myself and create goals that might have seemed unattainable in another era. With my mother as a role model for independence and my father’s insistence that I see reading as a gift I charted a course of learning that has brought me joy beyond description. I also found my true purpose in passing knowledge forward and encouraging thousands of students to reach for the stars. I was perfectly poised for success.

Living in the United States of America gave me freedoms that so many people around the world never enjoy. I have been able to voice my opinions and choose the people that I want to represent me. I am able to travel from place to place and to enjoy the economic opportunities that allow me to live a very peaceful and comfortable life. 

Because my skin is white I have been able to live quietly and without prejudice. Most of the time nobody even notices me which is a wonderful thing. I have never been stopped from entering a store or place of business because of the color of my skin. I have never been told to move to the back of a bus or to collect a library book from a window in the back of a building. In other words, simply because of place, time and parents I have have a most fortunate life with few to no barriers confining my spirit or my dreams. 

Kings and queens were once believed to have divine rights that gave them powers simply from being born in the correct birth order. In some ways that is how my life also feels. Much of what I have achieved might have been nullified if anything about the circumstances of my birth had changed. I might have been abused by my parents. I might have been born in a country that did not value me as a person or as a woman. I might have suffered under the iron rule of oppression or dire poverty and want. I am fully aware of my good fortune and as such I believe that it is up to me to pay the goodness of my life forward. 

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all believed that a good life needed to be shared with friends and community. Happiness was to be found in thriving and helping others to thrive as well. I believe such things are true but I all too often allow my human frailties to forget about what a wondrous life I have and instead brood over what is missing. I suppose that each of us falls prey to a bit of self pity now and again. It seems to be in our natures to sometimes want more when we already have so much. 

I look across the world and I see people who are no different from me suffering intensely simply because they did not win the lottery of place, time, and parents. I know that even in my remarkable country simply being born is not enough to insure the privileges that I have enjoyed. Prejudices abound and anyone perceived to be different will likely encounter insults and hurts that I have so far avoided. The world can be as kind as it has been to me, but it can also be incredibly cruel. 

I do not believe that God decides who gets to have a happy life like mine and who has to endure a lifetime of hardship. If there were such a God that would be counter to the compassion promised to us. I simply believe that things just happen as they did with me. Sadly some are not nearly as fortunate and life can be quite difficult for them. 

When I see refugees fleeing their homelands I view them as being just like me only circumstances have made their lives more difficult than mine has ever been. I have great compassion and concern for their plight and hope that those of us who have been luckier will welcome them in their quest to improve their lives. 

I am indeed the fortunate one. I got lucky with the roll of the dice. I am deeply grateful.