When you grow up with little to no money, what you get is what you get.

Things people don't understand about being in the 44% of poverty stricken homes is actually how blessed it can be.

Being in that percentage, you don't have the best clothes, or get to go to the mall with your friends every weekend. You don't get the brand new iPhone all your friends have, you'd be lucky if you even had a phone at all. But then again, maybe you do have nice things but, it isn't because your parents bought them for you. It's usually because people give away things they don't want anymore, they have the next best thing and can't be bothered with the old version of whatever it is. So they just throw it to the curb without a second thought.

When you grow up unable to have everything you want given to you, you learn to appreciate things more so than your friends who did grow up getting everything they wanted. Sometimes it's infuriating seeing the lack of gratitude from your peers but, you can't blame them, it isn't their fault they were born into a household with money.

It can be extremely stressful growing up in a home like this, not knowing where your next meal will come from, if you even have a next meal. You don't know if things are actually going to turn around, or if it will all just crumble in front of you once again, because nothing ever works out, no matter how hard you try and hope for better days. There's always the constant, "Do I have money for this?", "Will I be able to pay for this, or will we go without again?" "When will things just go my way?" These are questions that run through your mind often, and the answer always seems to be, "No."

Sometimes being the person that comes from this environment really isn't a bad thing. You didn't get everything you wanted on a whim, you had to work for it and earn it. You learned more from having less, you have more compassion and are more mature because you've dealt with situations that gave you no other choice. Your friends didn't have to go through these things and you envy them for it, you wish you could've grown up like them. Growing up this way is both a blessing and a curse, because at first, you don't think it's fair, you think it sucks, it's awful. Trust me it is, but you learn and gain so, so much more from growing up this way. You grow up and you want to help people because you wish there had been someone to help you and your family. Maybe there was someone that helped, or many people that helped and you feel that you need to give back.

Growing up in poverty sucks, but you can learn from it and become the best person you can be, the best person your parent never even dreamed of you becoming.