I often feel lucky, but it is my way of remembering to appreciate what I have, not some abstract belief that I must therefore be a better person because I've been luckier than many

YES. This. It's a recognition of fact, not a suit of chainmail or a strap-on halo.

I think some people take what they have and make more of it than others could.

YES. Not everyone has the same ability to work with the tools they were given. Doesn't mean the people aren't trying or don't want it.

I loved what you said in your entry:
How ironic is it that this idea that thinking positive and avoiding negative has translated into it's your fault if you fail to think positive, so you get a disease, or you lose your job and can't find another?

THIS. Because it's like a sickness, so many people act like this. You have to prove you are Virtuous before you warrant help or sympathy, and part of that is proving that you have a good attitude. You have people like the woman with cancer you were talking about who are criticised for not being positive enough, which is in no way constructive.

It's fucking infantilizing is what it is. I got that shit all through school, force fed to me. Be positive. Change your attitude. Why aren't you smiling? Why do you hate school so much? With the implication that my suffering was a huge ol' problem for them, and the fact that school was shitty was not the root problem at all, oh no. It was all my fault for being hateful and having a chip on my shoulder, not theirs for treating me like pond slime.

That sort of shaming isn't suitable for children or for adults.