Lucky At Birth

Lucky At Birth

John Paul Derryberry

Puddle-jumping is one of the most fun activities one can partake in. I had forgotten this fact until I had more than one child. My daughters love to go puddle-jumping. They would put on those rain boots so fast and trudge out into less-than-deep-winter temperatures, but still cold, and splash around. I was right there with them, bounding from puddle to puddle and laughing as we went along. My oldest wanted to puddle-jump with me right when I got home from work, so we bounced out the door. Soon, we were chasing puddles in a 3-year-old's carefree way. The smile on my face was as wide as the Mississippi River is long.

Part of me couldn't help but think of all the parents in Ukraine trying to flee for the safety of their kids; hunkering down and fighting back for their homeland; keeping their heads down and trying to just survive. It's heartbreaking to see and I know there is little I can do to help. When unthinkable events occur, we struggle to focus on the human element. I think that's why so many of us quickly become geopolitical and military experts. I think we do that to distract us from that feeling of knowing how little we control in this world.

As the videos and news poured in about births in train stations, shelling of apartment complexes, and the horrors of war, I couldn't help but think: I was lucky not to be born in a country neighboring Russia. And how often do any of us attribute a significant portion of our success to the luck we experienced entering the world in a stable, free country? Or, that we were lucky enough to get stable parents who practiced the accepted cultural customs and the race that enjoyed being in power. We don't. Instead, we ruminate about bootstraps and lack of character instead of discussing inherent advantages and leveling the playing field.

I was lucky to land in my family. My mom and dad were a great team. I didn't have to carry the burdens of generational racism, abuse, poverty, and political factors that others are trying to break away from. When my father died, my sister and brother helped my mom finish raising me. So I was and am lucky. And if you are one of those people that overcame the burdens of your birth and created a new healthy branch on your family tree-- good for you. That's amazing, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say you wish it would have been easier to create a healthy future for you and your family. You didn't choose to be placed in a family that experienced those things, just like the Ukrainians didn't ask for their burden. Still, they are carrying on way better than I would.

So much that occurs in and around our lives is out of our hands. While it's scary to admit this, it allows for new lines of thinking to occur. Our thought process can become: how do we help? How do we understand better? How can we display compassion and patience? But, most notably, how can we stop acting like a know-it-all on the subject of overcoming every single hardship we face as a society? Also, it allows us to look around at what we have and remember that some of it is pure luck, so we shouldn't look down on others. We should strive for a world where everyone, no matter what their age, can be as carefree as a three-year-old puddle-jumping and screaming with delight at life. We should all be so lucky to have a ton of moments like that!