Life is unfair, many would say. There are so many things that happen to us on a daily basis, or even things that have been affecting us from the moment we were born. I conducted a mini research session using my Instagram story and HCYU’s Instagram story to see what you think is unfair. The study that was conducted is not very academic and had a small sample size, but here are some of the responses from participants.
“My parents brought me into this world, without even asking if I wanted to be born in the first place.”
Photo via Dema Talib
Well, I mean … Your grandparents didn’t ask your parents if they wanted to be born either… so, technically it’s fair enough.
“When you have to handle someone else’s mistake, and the price is bad.”
Paying for your own mistakes is already a situation that we, as human beings, try to avoid. My parents always encourage me to learn from the mistakes of other people, so that I don’t make those mistakes myself. Well, I guess it’s not fair to handle the consequences of other people’s mistakes, but it is a mistake we fall for, and it sure is a lesson we learnt – perhaps the hard way.
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“When you do things for other people, and they don’t repay the act towards you or even appreciate you.”
Okay, I sense a trend in here. Don’t plant seeds of expectations in a soil that might be blown away when the weather changes, in the hopes that those expectations might one day prosper into a reality. I’m not saying be skeptical of everyone and everything – if you want to do something good for someone, do it for the heck of it, not because you’ll get something back out of it.
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“Spending thousands of dollars and years of our lives on an education to get a job, and not getting one after graduation.”
This is such a huge reality for tons of graduates. It’s tough trying to find a job in today’s world even after receiving an education which you were told was necessary.
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“Some people have to work twice as hard to get half of what others have handed right to their doorstep.”
“The rich gets richer, the poor gets poorer.”
“So many people are starving and homeless. Nobody chooses that kind of life.”
I cannot stress enough how many people out there actually think that someone is homeless because they made poor decisions in life, or that economic status is a reflection of hard work. It kills me to know that individuals who work day and night in jobs that are emotionally and physically draining, barely making it out there financially, gets accused of being “lazy.” Not everyone can afford an education, not everyone is born into a wealthy family, not everyone gets the same opportunities, not everyone has your skin color. Not everyone has time to walk all over others with designer shoes made by workers in low-paying precarious jobs, making assumptions. Stop and think about it for a second
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“Loneliness being something a lot of us share, yet we do not connect with one another.”
We are in the 21st century, a time characterized by modernization, globalization, and technological advancements. With so many opportunities to connect with one another, we are not alone, and yet we still seem to feel lonely. What’s going on? As Julius Caesar says, “The fault … is not in our stars, but in ourselves …” Sometimes, we do not just need to step out of our comfort zones, but maybe just share with a stranger. It’ll feel more comfortable, I promise!
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And lastly, “There’s a lot, but it’s all a test from God. It makes us better humans.”
Photo via Dema Talib
Bad things make good things stand out better, mistakes teach us valuable lessons that we we wouldn’t have learnt otherwise, disappointments make our foundation stronger, education teaches us more than how to calculate the profit of a client, acknowledging unfairness connects us to each other and without doing this, we would not just be alone, but lonely in our feelings of fairness.