A Sense of Belonging

Take a minute to watch the below clip.

This was one of KFC’s television adverts in 2015. It was broadcasted, simply illustrating a couple who adopt a child. The boy is shy at first but whilst having a family KFC meal, the father pulls out a chair, inviting the boy to the meal (keep this part in mind for me).

We then see a montage of the boy growing up, and when he is older and goes around to his parents for a KFC meal. He sees another adopted child and pulls out the chair, as his dad did for him.

KFC want to denote that KFC meals bring people together; families together. However my personal meaning signified something else.

What I love about this advert is its pure simplicity in reflecting the principle of ‘belonging.’

As humans, whether we admit it or not, we all want to belong to something. We all long to be part of some story where we can be part of an adventure or an unveiling (as discussed in Stasi and John Eldridge’s book Captivating).

For a person to belong, it means for them ‘to be in the relation of a member, adherent,inhabitant, etc.‘ They are invited and accepted into something that they now become part of. Just like the boy in the KFC, we grow when we KNOW that we are part of something.

Back in 2010, whilst at university one of the conclusions in my dissertation was that young people often join gangs because they are offered a ‘family.’ Take gang affiliation out of the equation, how different is the boy in the KFC advert to this? How different are we?

Feelings are just emotions, they are a part of us. Not always true to their origin or always leading us down the right path, but must be taken into consideration and dealt with.

We find ourselves in two positions:

1. Do we know, and not just feel, that we belong to someone or something?
2. Do we pull out the chair for others?

When people don’t fit a certain criteria or crouch to another persons ways, they are segregated from what they believe they are part of. Society calls them ‘misfits.’

We don’t have the right to exclude others regardless of external or internal states. We were all created with one design but different personalities.

The scary thing about this ‘sense of belonging’ is that if it is not found, it can forfeit a person, turning them into a shadow of who they really are.

Unless you KNOW you are part of something, you will squander your purpose.

Let me explain this by going back to the KFC advert. What would of happened if the dad never pulled out the chair for the boy? The answer is simple… everything we saw in the montage afterwards would never have taken place.

As the boy was adopted, those who he was staying with were not his biological parents. Knowing this, the boy did not know how to respond as he came from a different background.

When we become unsure about someone or something, even in the slightest, we internally and externally move.

By simply pulling out the chair, the boy was invited to their home. He was invited to be their son and part of the family. This caused the boy to catapult, later seeing him graduate and have a family of his own.

At some point in life, we must all belong to something. This sense of belonging pushes past being a mere emotion, but forms a strong belief on the inside of a person.

Sometimes we make good choices, sometimes we make bad choices, or sometimes life makes choices for us.

Hopefully we won’t become a people who stop or hinder others; even ourselves, from belonging to something.

We may not be the same or sometimes have a lot in common, but when people are part of the same clan with the same vision, there is no question that destiny will connect them and give them this sense of belonging.

Once they know who they are and where they belong, just like the boy in the KFC advert, they will grow and unveil into a mighty person. The person they were created to be.