 Do you often wish you were born to wealthy parents? Do you often wish your parents had everything and so if they did, you would find it easy to live your best life? Do you occasionally find yourself connecting your life's failure to your parents' impoverishment? Let me guess, you probably didn't grow up in a wealthy home. Your parents were perhaps unable to get you the good things of life as a child. They love you, yes, but they just couldn't meet all your needs. Back in high school, you watched your friends get dropped off in school by their rich parents in their expensive cars. These friends came to school constantly to yab you about the expensive picnics and holidays their rich parents take them out on. You know this kind of life belongs to you but your parents just do not have it. So, you often wish you were born to rich parents. If you are truthful to yourself, you occasionally feel this way. If you were not born to parents who were rich, I, for one, can admit this to myself because I have been there. No way, I was not born with a silver spoon but I wish I had. Really, you have to admit it, every young person wishes to be born with a silver spoon. Thankfully, I wished I was born with one. I wished my parents had everything but we didn't. And that was that. A little bit about me. I am the second child in a family of five. My dad was an itinerant worker for the most part of my childhood days. I saw him often. But we weren't close. If you're from this part of the world, Africa, you're familiar with the example of the father who doesn't show affection. That was my dad. If he liked us or not, we didn't know. He was strict. He came in one way, we ran the other way. We hear his car honk down the street and we're off into the house like a rabbit. The attention my dad didn't give us, we got in our mom. We didn't own all the expensive things either. We had a few things to help us get by. But I wanted more and knew I deserved more. I desired too many things in life but we had few things. This affected me for a long time. I blamed my parents for our lack. They did all they could to provide for us but I wanted more. I saw my background was an excuse for not trying, for not putting in my best in everything. All those are childish thoughts now. I lied to a friend. Did you ever play the game where you told your friends your dad had an airplane under your bed? I told my friends that often. Once in high school, I posted so much to my friends that we had a color TV we never did. But I said we did. I promoted this lie so much a friend told me he was coming to visit me. I thought he was joking but he did follow me home one day after school. Well, you guessed what I did. I told him the truth before I was found out. Too many times, friends would invite me to a party. I would refuse to go because I felt I wasn't rich enough to be in their midst. Once I prayed so much to God to give me just one pair of jeans trousers because I didn't have any. I promised him I would never ask for more. God did give me one pair of jeans but I have asked for more and more and more and have continued to still ask for more. I did all this because I was ashamed of my background and for a very long time, I used my background as an excuse for not making the most of my life. Your background isn't an excuse for failure. Oprah Winfrey told the story of her childhood. Her mother was a maid as was her grandmother and great-grandmother. One day, her grandmother told her she would become a maid as well. Still as she was, young Oprah Winfrey told herself she would never become a maid. She had spent so much time in Sunday school and church services and she had often heard the pastor say that she was a child of God. Oprah Winfrey believed these very strongly. Everywhere she went, she told herself she was a child of God and would never end up like her poor ancestors. She would become successful and she would be on TV. She achieved this dream. Oprah Winfrey could have listened to her background. She could have argued that her parents' background was responsible for her failure as many young people do but she didn't. Instead of complaining, she made the most of her situation to become a great woman. Listen to this. Tons of people today use their background as an excuse for doing drugs and misbehaving But your parents' failure or success does not define your life. Your life is a gift given to you by God with the conditions that you alone will be responsible for it. So, yes, it can be tough not to be born to rich parents. You know, when you have a background like this, it's safe to think you should never try anything new. But you should stay laid back and do nothing since your options are limited compared to friends whose parents are rich, right? That's not true. Make the most of your background. Are you familiar with these statements? If only I was born to a rich parent, well, we all wish the same. But you see, you alone can decide what you become. You can't shy away from it anymore. Like it or not, though, God gave you the best parents and relatives you could ever have. He gave you the best condition and environment you can ever live in. Now, it's your job to choose to make the most of what you have. Choose to be different even if your environment does not permit it. The reason is simple. Your life is in your hands and the great news is, God's got your back. Anthony Robbins never hoped his poor parents would overcome their poverty but he never used their green poverty as an excuse either. Early as a child, he made up his mind he would become rich and would help a lot of poor people because he himself had experienced extreme poverty. He worked hard in college, reading over 700 books and came out to become successful. Such Christmas, he gives food to the poor. He could have used his parents' poverty as an excuse to never rise but he didn't. I watched a movie recently. One of the characters said, It seems bad now but days like today keeps a man riled up for a long time if he responds right. It means things may seem rough now but you need to know you're a diamond in the rough. It has given you the best parents you can ever have, accept who you are and grow by it. Looking back now, I love my parents for their sacrifices, love and everything they did. My dad did love me and he showed it in ways I didn't quite understand at the time but I understand now. We don't choose who our parents will be. We don't choose our background. We only choose who we become. After the story of the 10 spies in the Bible, 8 spies doomed their own destiny but Caleb and Joshua chose a different destiny because they had faith and they succeeded. It's not what's behind you that matters, it's what you do with what's before you that counts. If this video inspired you, like the video and subscribe to our channel. We love you.