ENTITLEMENT

I will start off this piece by saying this-

THE ONLY TWO THINGS YOU ARE ENTITLED TO IN THIS WORLD IS 'YOUR LIFE DECISIONS' AND 'YOUR HUMAN RIGHTS' other than that,

In the words of House of Cards Kevin Spacey aka Frank Underwood -YOU ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING!!!

Entitlement is the wrong and generally disturbing notion that somehow we are inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. That somehow the universe, someone or some people owe us things that are RIGHTFULLY ours to have. So we wait and wait, most times in anger, for them to give us 'what we deserve'. We bask in our bubble of entitlement and complain about how the world is not treating us right, not giving us enough money or not giving us the so-called 'help' we ought to get. Sometimes we let the air of narcissism that comes with it swallow us whole.

With this backward mindset of entitlement comes a mighty wave of laziness and frustration.

The mature results of anger and excessive 'waiting'. 
Marriages have ended, relationships have been broken, friendships gone sour simply because some individuals cling to this notion that they deserve special treatments, that they need to be provided for and not the other way round. Nobody owes you anything in life! Which is why God created everyone with equal number of physical features, two hands, two legs, two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth etc. So, what makes you deserving of another person's hard work? What criteria qualifies you for a special treatment? 

Mr A can choose to help you not because you deserve it but because Mr A wants to. This does not however qualify you to take a back seat and wait for Mr A's kindness to 'fall on you' or get angry when he or she chooses to take a break. Get this, you are not entitled to Mr A's kind gestures, he or she just chose to HELP. He or she could also choose not to.

We wake up every day alive and well, not because we deserve it or because we are entitled to it but because of God's unending love and mercy. What do we learn from this? --'Give without expecting anything in return', 'Take without thinking you deserve it'. Give graciously, Take humbly. 

Curbing this attitude cannot be achieved in a day but with every single day you invest in making yourself better, you come closer to achieving your goal.

First, Subscribe to hard work! There is no joy in reaping where you did not sow.

Work hard and you will enjoy the fruits of your labour, work on developing more self awareness, identify your inner expectations about the world, as well as deep-seated beliefs and ideals, desist from imposing your beliefs, ideals or expectations on other people, develop compassion and empathy. Sometimes step away from your narcissistic tendencies and ask yourself ---->

‘How does this affect others?’ ‘How does he/she feel right now?’ ‘How would I feel if I were her/him?’ learn to see things from other people's perspective, broaden your mind, and open it to new, and beneficial ways of thinking, celebrate with other people.

Shun dependability on others- Learn to depend on yourself more, provide for yourself more and you can one day move from a taker to a giver.

Finally, focus on helping others and not just yourself. Get your eyes off you and onto the needs around you. When we do, our attitude changes.