Dear Woe-Is-Me,

I feel sorry for you.

Yes, I have to admit that for one millisecond of my life I was actually jealous of you and the amount of material things you had handed to you. However, that feeling quickly subsided and has yet to return to me. For in that brief moment of jealousy, I realized that you will never be able to do what I, and so many others in the world, skillfully do. Survive. Because while you are receiving gifts of tuition, cars (with insurance), cell phones, food/water, and anything else your heart could desire, we are working for them. We are working countless part-time jobs, being a full-time student, and trying to have a personal life all the while maintaining our caffeine addictions. We are constantly budgeting our money making sure we have enough to pay our bills for the month as well as putting gas in our, more than likely, used cars. We are frequently thinking about budgeting and if we will be able to provide for ourselves. We are conscience of the difference between want and need and have learned the self-control to tell ourselves “no” when it just is not necessary to have.

I am not angry that things are handed to you. In fact, I applaud you that you have parents or guardians that can afford to do that for you and I hope you are eternally grateful. No, what frustrates me and so many other working students, is that you lump yourselves in with us. You attempt to relate to how hard we work and at the same time, complain that your life is just, “so unfair." Normally, I would ignore ignorance and chalk it up to you not knowing any better however this time is a little different. You see, the woe-is-me mentality that you are so quick to show off is, for a lack of a better word, pathetic. Since you do not know what a struggle life can actually be, you take parts of everyday life and magnify them to the utmost in order to connect with those that actually struggle. You take what most would consider a fairy tale and dilute it to try and make a nightmare out of it. Life should not be about who has endured the most pain or heartache. Life should be about thanking God (or whatever higher power you believe in) that he has woken you up this morning, that you have breath in your lungs, and are not living in a real nightmare.

Perhaps those of us that take our lumps and do not complain just have a higher tolerance for life. Perhaps we were taught the difference between having things handed to us versus working for what we want. Or, perhaps we just know that life could actually be way worse than it is and we are grateful that we have the opportunities we do and make the most out of them all. Either way, I hope if you take the time to read this you think hard about your life and are truly thankful for what you have.

Sincerely,

Someone who actually earns what she has.

P.S. Being given something does not mean you earned it; it means someone thought highly of you enough to do something nice for you so please do not take credit for someone else’s thoughtfulness, it is tacky.