Are we all Victims?

I don't like the term victim.  It sounds weak, and helpless.  And yet it seems that everyone is a victim these days.  (I also don't like the term "these days" because it makes me feel like an old curmudgeon).  Everyone is suffering from something.  We will gladly tell all our woes to anyone who is willing to listen.  And then we are forced to listen to theirs in turn.   Sometimes we even try to outdo each other with our victim story.   "I had the flu for a week."  " oh I had the flu for two weeks and I almost died".   And it seems we want to do that without first offering consolation to the other person.  We are victims of poor health, and most of us could overcome that if we wanted to with a healthy lifestyle change, but it's far easier to give in to the victim mentality and throw up our hands in despair and say "I can't help it, I have______ (fill in the blank with the name of the syndrome )".  We use our syndrome's of which we are victims to give us an out for living our lives in the best way.

People seem hell bent on taking offense. They are victims of language.  They search news stories, and Facebook postings, and blogs, trying to find something they can take offense at. They read comments searching for insult.  And it gets ridiculous.  Recently I heard that they were changing the name of the Trans Canada highway because it offended trans gender people.  Of course this was not true, but when I first heard it I was not surprised.  I was astonished and a bit annoyed, but not surprised.  But it was an example of how far we are taking things in our society.  Our victim mentality is slowly eroding our language and our freedom of speech.  We have to walk on eggshells and be politically correct lest someone feels victimized by what we say.

We teach our children to be victims as well.  We excuse behaviours that are unacceptable because the child has some syndrome.   The most ridiculous one I have heard?  No longer is a child a brat.  Now he has "Oppositional Defiance Disorder".  He is a victim of this and cannot help himself and therefore should not be accountable.  It's INSANE.  

I have had times when I have felt like a victim and I would blame others in my life for my own unhappiness.  But eventually I had to realize that I was NOT a victim, I had choices, and I had control of my life.  I have many chronic health conditions.  But I don't feel like a victim.  They are challenges, absolutely, but they don't give me an out when it comes to being a productive and useful member of society.  It would so easy to play the victim card.  But I don't want to be that person.

Don't get me wrong,I realize there are real victims. People who have had things happen to them that are tragic and totally out of their control.  Terminal illnesses, violent crimes, serious accidents, and natural catastrophe's to name a few.  But even in these situations, people have a choice as to how they handle their situation.  Are they going to wail and moan oh poor me, or are they going to try and move forward and become strong again?  

I hope I am not coming across as a cold person. I am not, I am very compassionate and caring.  But, I really think that before we complain about our victimization we should take a look at people who really are victims in this world, and consider ourselves truly blessed.