Groverwhelmed Sunday: Having agency is a privilege

This Sunday's article is a reflection of a conversation I had sometime ago with someone who was intentionally off social media and the reason was that the people of the same age group were having too much fun - going out, taking vacations, putting up fancy pictures. While this person was home bound. Stepping out of home meant taking multiple permissions, arguments, alignments...

It suddenly hit me how I take AGENCY for granted.?

Having the power to make independent choices and decisions is such a fundamental need that some of those who have this power perhaps don't value it enough.?

Fortunately, I belong to the category of individuals with this power but was completely oblivious?to how empowering it was for me to make my own choices and decisions back when I was younger.

I only started understanding the meaning of the word: AGENCY?when my work took me to solve problems of the most vulnerable from newly married wives of migrant workers to adolescent girls. Each cohort I met expressed some desire for agency - whether it be the ability to continue studying or the simple decision to step out of home to purchase something for themselves.

While I was growing up in my own surroundings friends, family - decisions were made by one person. Everyone else followed. If anyone wanted to do something out of the norm could be as simple as order food from outside - there was no such thing as just doing it. There were layers, alignments, discussions. It was everything but simple.

Now that I understand the meaning of this word, I realize how simple it has been for me. I now recognize that having agency was and continues to be a privilege. What I see has changed though is the way I exercise it. The younger me I guess was at times abusing this agency (lack of moderation, random/adhoc choices) which the older me is keeping things in check and making intentional choices. ?I guess the more you learn and are exposed, the more perspective you get, about others but more importantly about yourself.