Sympathizing doesn’t equal apologizing.
It’s possible to sympathize with people who don’t have your advantages or assets without apologizing for the results of your hard work or good fortune. You’re not going to make the world a better place by hanging your head in guilt every time something good happens to you.
If you truly want to help those in need, then help them. But don’t disrespect yourself or the goodness you’re sharing by treating life’s blessings as if they’re something you ought to be ashamed of.
Success is not a scandal. Wealth is not wicked. Enthusiasm is not evil. If you’re lucky enough to have tasted one of these things, it’s actually good to act as if such things are worth tasting.
Yes, it’s possible to do well in life without hanging your wellness over someone else’s head.
“But what if I acquired my success through illegitimate means?”
Even in cases such as these, your guilt is useless if you don’t translate it into the kind of compassion and conviction that expresses itself through charitable action.
If your conscience won’t allow you to enjoy life’s blessings without being overcome by self-condemnation and shame, feel free to give away your goods to people who can appreciate them. But if you’re not going to do that, please spare the world of your martyrdom and misery.
If good is good and evil is evil, then there is nothing good about treating your experience of goodness as if it’s an evil that needs to be explained.
