“You’ve never had it so good”

The endless pursuit of progress and the need to celebrate every milestone

Have you ever heard someone using the phrase, “you’ve never had it so good”? It’s usually when someone else is complaining about human rights, world poverty, equality, or, you know, other small matters like these.

It’s often meant as a put down. We’re told we should stop constantly complaining about what we don’t have and realise that things are so much better than they used to be.

It seems like there are two types of people in the world. There are those who are never satisfied. They don’t see the progress that has been made; they only see the progress that still needs to happen. Or there are those who focus on all the progress that has been made, but lose sight of the problems that remain.

But of these types of people are right.

We shouldn’t ever be satisfied. Yes, progress has been made with racism, women’s equality, global poverty, and the like. But we’d be foolish to think there isn’t a lot more progress that’s still needed.

But sometimes, despite all the progress that still needs to happen, it is right to pause for a moment to celebrate the accomplishments that have happened. On so many levels, we haven’t ever had it so good.

So I want to be both these types of people. I want to celebrate every ounce of progress, but I don’t want to ever become complacent or blinded to all the progress that still needs to happen.

There may still be a long way to go but, like on any journey, sometimes we need to stop and appreciate how far we’ve come. And that can actually provide the motivation to keep on going.

Photo: Matt Duncan