My Definition of "Privilege"

Growing up on the North Shore, the word "Privilege" is certainly not new to me. Throughout my life I have been told I am "privileged" on somewhat of a daily basis so it is natural that I have always connected the word with wealth. I never stopped to think what it really meant to be privileged becuase it has just always been one of those words that I assumed fit its definition quite clearly, although I had never even seen the definition. I find it interesting that i never questioned the use of this word even after growing up around it. I think that the proper way for people to have used this word would have been to say that here on the North Shore, we are privileged with affluence. Privilige in-and-of-itself has a meaning beyond the context in which I have so lightly used it for the past seventeen years (I guess that assumes I was talking and advanced enough to use the word at birth, which is not true, so the last seven years would suffice, I think). I looked it up in the dictonary and compared it with the definintion for affluence.

Privilege: a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most
Affluence: abundance of money, property, and other material goods; riches; wealth

Both words are defined in very different ways and from my interpretation of these definitions, I do not think that privilege can be measured in the amount of money that a person own or how financially advantageous they are. I would define privilege as the quality of one's life, but I cannot look at someone else's life and define them as privileged. It can only be decided by the beholder. I believe I am privileged because I am a happy person, with a loving family, and the future that I am working hard to create for myself through the decisions that I make everyday. Money does not equal happiness so therefore, privilege can only be defined by a person's outlook on their own life.