"Poverty is not a hindrance to success."
Ever since I was young, I have heard that famous quote a lot of times already. It has been a topic or a debate in our school also. Our teachers let us write an essay about it. They would let us do activities related to that saying.
They would also let us read rugs to riches stories like the famous Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, and the former business tycoon Henry Sy.
Growing up, I believed in that famous quote that poverty is not a hindrance to success. And poverty is just an excuse of unprivileged people in order to not reach their success.
But the past few days while I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw this photo indicating that poverty is a hindrance to success.
Of course, it gained so much attention and reaction from people. Everyone has different opinions regarding it. Some said that they agree, while others disagree.
I gave a couple of minutes thinking about my argument with that post. I realized that the line was correct.
“Poverty is a hindrance to success.”
Remove the not.
I think most people are aware that because of poverty, so many people are not given the equal opportunities and privileges that other people have. One of the great examples is that people who experience poverty have a hard time going to school and finishing their degrees.
My parents came from not well-off families. They experienced poverty first-hand and they told us their own stories, so since I was young, I already had an idea of what it looks like to be unprivileged.
I am not generalizing my descriptions but I would say that most of the people who experience poverty are like these:
They need to work extra harder than those who are more privileged.
They have no connections so they mostly figure out everything by themselves, especially in the past where the internet was not a thing.
They need to be more resourceful because they do not have everything on hand and they can't buy things in an instant.
They experienced food scarcity or sometimes being unhealthy with the food that they eat because they have no choice but to eat what's just on their table.
They walk most of the time just to go to their school or work because they do not have enough money for transportation and they can’t afford buying their own car as well.
Again, the line says "poverty is a hindrance to success"
According to Google, the synonyms of hindrance are obstacle, interruption, and difficulty.
It is indeed true that poverty is really an obstacle in reaching for success.
Other people may argue, "but Manny Pacquiao and other people are from a very poor situation and yet they still managed to be successful, what are you talking about?"
Well, if you are going to comprehend the line again that poverty is a hindrance to success. It is not impossible, but it is still an obstacle, an interruption, a difficulty that one must endure and escape from in order to attain success.
Let's face the fact that unprivileged people really need to go on difficult battles compared to people with more privileges.
If you don't understand what the quote truly implies, it is either you are privileged, you are blinded by reality, or both.
Closing thoughts
Whatever the case where a person is in, whether he’s experiencing poverty or not, I believe that each one of us are given different challenges in order to achieve our own successes. Poverty is a challenge for many people, but it is definitely not impossible to reach success just because of poverty. I believe in an old Filipino saying that...
“Kung gusto, may paraan. Kung ayaw, maraming dahilan.”
In English, “If there’s a will, there’s a way. If there isn’t a will, there are a lot of reasons.”
There are so many people already who proved that it is not impossible to escape from poverty. I believe that by being determined, putting in consistent hard work, and not giving up can absolutely lift a person from poverty.
This is my entry to the Writing Prompt #9: Success of @JonicaBradley. If you also want to participate in this writing prompt, check out her article or simply read the rules below:
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Thanks for reading! ❤️
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Date Published: July 22, 2021
You are right to point out that there are many examples of rags to riches stories. Most people don't even know that MOST rich people did not inherit their money. They earned it all. Almost all rich people started off poor.
The difference, really, is action. One can either sit around waiting for things to happen, expecting things to happen, or being pissed at someone else that things AREN'T happening, call it unfair, and never get anything. Or they can pull themselves up from their bootstraps, work hard, and LEARN about all the ways to grasp at every single opportunity that is right before them if only they take the time and make the effort to take hold of them.
It is a very simplistic thing, but I have always believed it to be true.
The poor stay poor because they only know how to be poor. The rich get rich because the know how NOT to be poor.