Many years ago, I was a child who was often labeled by adults as an “idealist.” I didn’t know what this meant, but from the context of how they spoke about real life, I thought they were describing me as the kind of person who looks at the bright side of life.
You see, that’s one of the things I didn’t understand about adults back then. How come a child like me could hope and dream of a better life, not just for myself but for everyone, yet the adults — who could actually do something to change things — kept acting like there was nothing they could do?
I didn’t understand them until I grew up — until I, too, became an adult.
Today, after everything I have seen and experienced, I no longer believe that the world can be a place where everyone is well-fed, lives comfortably, and gets to work on their dreams if they truly want to.
Now, as an adult, I understand the unspoken rule of society. Everywhere you go, no matter your nationality, the mandate is the same: There is no victory for one without loss for another. This is the way of life.
The child version of me had not yet understood that the wildlife she used to watch on National Geographic was, in truth, a representation of what the human life cycle really is. In between being born and dying, humans must keep disadvantaging others to move forward.
And the reality is, no matter how much effort one makes to take only what they need, the way society is designed still requires some people to thrive while others struggle.
Do not deny it. It has been happening at least since the beginning of human civilization. And even in modern times, the reality is this:
We get clean homes because our trash is transported to landfills far away from where we live. And in those places, less fortunate people struggle to survive among the waste and try to make a living from what we have discarded.
We profit by selling products to people who don’t really need them. Yet we sell them anyway, and they buy them, and we take the money they earned working for the same corporate giants that sell them those products.
As a child, I did not see that human society has created a ladder. For there to be someone at the top, many more must stand on the bottom rungs.
Yet as an adult who now acknowledges and sees the truth of things, I must admit… I still try to balance the scales. In my small ways, I still believe in the same things the child in me once fought for.
I still believe in fair pay, even as a businesswoman who needs profit to make a living.
I still believe in speaking up when silence would protect me.
I still believe that small, consistent goodness matters, even in a system that rewards the opposite.
While I no longer believe that humanity as a whole can live in a world where everyone wins, I refuse to become indifferent.
I may not believe everyone can win, but I can choose not to win carelessly. If I cannot change the system, I can at least decide the kind of person I will be within it.
And in writing this, may you examine not only the world we live in, but the role you choose to play within it. May you remember and honor the hopeful child you once were, and find the courage to remain kind in a world that makes it inconvenient.
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