Privilege

My initial thoughts as I first looked at the title of the article was that it was going to deal with the unequal privileged or advantage that certain people have because of their race, social statues, or economic condition. I was expecting to read an article about the need for equal opportunities and how the privileged will always be privileged because because that the way they have always been, like the royal family which continues to be royal because that is what is has been at a prior date.

A term that was new to me was the term Allyship. I guess I had never thought about the people who are part of the majority who are privileged but side with those that need help and are less fortunate. It honestly reminded me of the movie Les Miserables where a young rich man is part of the head of the revolution that is trying to help the poor people of France who are starving while the rich ignore them. Although this was a movie, it deals with what actually happened in the French Revolution. The people who were not royalty but still had elevated status started the French Revolution in the name of the poor people of France who were starving.

I also always new what the definition of Privilege was but I had never thought about the fact that the people who are privileged do not realize and and also do not deserve it or have done nothing to obtain it. This new definition of privileged left me thinking about the pure luck that is also a part of being privileged. This directly affected me because before I came to college I did not realize that I was a privileged person in many ways. Back home I had always felt lie I was the least privileged of my friend group as I struggled financially , especially when it came time to go to college. At first when I came to college I felt the same way, but slowly I realized that in reality there are few people that go to college relative to the amount of people in the country and ever more so in the world. What are the chances that I was born in the United States, one of the richest countries in the world? It was basically luck. I could have been born in Africa where chances of education are limited or in a country where women are not allowed to go to school. It amazes me that I was able to be born in this land of opportunities and I did not realize that completely until this year. I am extremely privileged to live hear, to always have food on my plate and to be going to college.

Furthermore I think about my family situation. Recently I have heard many stories about other people's family and hardships. I have gone through many hardships, but in reality I have been privileged to have the amazing family that God gave me. They love me and they are always there for me although sometimes I feel that I am on my own. Hearing the stories of others and their hardships has allowed me to realize that I am privileged in this way that I did not realize before. Its crazy to realize that I do not deserve the amazing things about my life, that they are simply given to me in the amazing mercy and love of God and that I have done and will never be able to do anything to deserve them.

Allyship is a quality that could help my leadership skills because being aware of the the people and problems that do not apply to you but you can help with is an amazing quality for a leader. That leader will be able to understand and help many more people, not just the people like him or her.

Create Meaning by Helping Others

I identified with the article Create Meaning by Helping Others, because the author went through what I have and am going through as well. I also had an extremely rough time learning how to say no to people because I simply wanted them to like me and I wanted to be accepted. I have recently come out of that state, because I feel that as I have matured and become more independent, I have realized that I do not need to please others anymore because I do not need to impress anyone that I want to be friends with and saying yes all the time made me really unhappy. I have realized that my true friends are the ones that I can tell the truth to. I can tell them "yes, that shirt does make you look fat" and they can tell me "no, you should not cut your hair, because you will look horrible if you do so." All jokes aside, that sort of trust and honestly is important when dealing with serious issues and at that time what I really need is someone who can give me real advice.
The concept of knowing myself is one that I struggle with because logically you should know yourself more that anyone else because you know what you think and feel, but as time passes I realize that I do not really know myself, why I do things, and what I believe. I know myself a lot more know than I did only 6 months ago and yet I realize that I am still a mystery to myself. When asked deep questions, I do not always know what to say because I truly do not know what I believe. I am being influenced by so many outside sources that it is hard to take those thoughts away and be left with only the thoughts that I truly believe.
I understand that I must know myself so that I can truly be present for the people who I am trying to serve. Once I truly know myself, I will be able to truly get to know others in my life, my relationships, and my service. When I am able to serve others with my entire self, I will be able to provide more joy, support, and hope to those I serve and myself.

 

Pain vs Suffering: I often find that I sink into the things that hurt me, I think about them over and over again even when they are simply small things. I think about them so much that they become big things and cause me to suffer. After reading this article, I realize that the suffering I put myself through is optional and I have willingly engaged in it. We can choose to remain in our suffering or we can get past the inevitable pain and move on. When we move on we are able to live in every beautiful moment that God gives us.

One of the most amazing ways we can serve others is to show them how beautiful they truly are. "We come into this world with infinite potential and then become conditioned to live to society’s expectations." We have the potential to be and do anything that our hearts can desire but we become conditioned by society to believe that we are limited and confined by our race, gender, economic status, and supposed intelligence. We are advised to pursue careers that provide economic stability although are passion may be somewhere else. We are also suppressed by what we have conditioned ourselves to believe are our limits. We must first realize ourselves that those limits are nonexistent, and then we will be able to convince those we are serving of the same, because we all have the ability to do the impossible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Servant Leadership

Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.” This quote relates to my leadership because it is the underlying base of the actions that I take as a leader. As a leader, according to God, I should speak up for those that are oppressed, afflicted and needy. According to my faith, I should seek to help others as best I can rather than look for my own personal improvement as is stated in this verse. Jesus was the greatest Servant Leader of all time and I strive to become even a fraction of the Servant Leader he was.

I thought that the Servant Leadership workshop was very enlightening because it I learned about the way I had come to define Leadership as simply the characteristics that I define as pertaining to leaders. I had never thought about the true definition of leadership and I had failed to see the importance and necessity of servant leaders.

Some characteristics I have in regards to Servant Leadership include empathy and the development of community. Empathy allows me to feel the pain, anguish, or worry that someone else is feeling in order for me to try to understand their pain so that I may better help them. It is an important characteristic so that I may be able to help people with all different problems that I have not necessarily experience. My ability to develop community among a group of people is very important in Servant Leadership because it allows people to come together and work together to achieve common goals.

A characteristics of Servant Leadership that I plan to obtain is the ability to know myself. It is important for me to be able to know myself before I can help others. Knowing ones self is the thing that leaders often take for granted because they feel that they must only know those whom they lead, but not themselves. I think that if I truly knew myself, I would be able to help others better because my getting to the root of myself, I would be able to better get to the root of others and their worries as well. 

At this point in my life, I do not have an idea of what my dream job is, but my dream job should incorporate Servant-Leadership in some way because I think that I would not be content with my life if my workplace was not giving others the ability to be more or dream more. I hope that I can be a leader for others and influence others to dream more and be more.