In the era of social media, it’s easy to fall into the trap of entitlement. We scroll through our feeds, seeing the highlight reels of other people’s lives, and start to feel like we deserve more. More followers, more likes, more engagement.
In a world where we often focus on what we don’t have instead of what we do, entitlement can creep in without us even realizing it. We start to believe that we deserve everything without putting in any effort, and we forget to appreciate the things we already have.
The truth is, entitlement is a slippery slope. Once we start believing that we deserve something, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we’re owed everything we want. But the reality is that nobody owes us anything.
The world doesn’t owe us success, happiness, or even basic necessities like food and shelter.
Most entitled people are in a perpetual state of unhappiness, conflict, disappointment and depression. They walk around the world only seeing the bad, instead of appreciating the good. These are symptoms of ingratitude.
How often do we take a hard look at our own sense of entitlement?
Think back to your last big argument with someone. Usually, we tend to see ourselves in one of two ways: either as a righteous hero or as a helpless victim.
When we see ourselves as the hero, we tend to view our own actions as morally sound, while painting our opponent as a villain. This, of course, leads to feelings of impatience and contempt. Sure, it might give us a momentary ego boost to feel like the “good guy”, but ultimately it just leads to more conflict and disappointment.
It’s all too easy to wander around the world with a “woe is me” attitude, feeling unappreciated and like life just keeps dealing us one bad hand after another. We convince ourselves that our struggles are the most significant struggles in the history of struggles, and that everyone else has it easy in comparison. As a result, we start to feel entitled to special treatment and attention.
This way of thinking is like a big ol’ anchor weighing us down, dragging our motivation and success down with it. It’s tough to strive for greatness when we’re too busy sulking about how the world owes us something.
Our sense of entitlement can come from all sorts of places. Maybe we were raised with the idea that life is a smooth ride, where all our dreams come true. I learnt very early in life that this was NEVER going to be my reality!
We’ve spent our lives marinating in a culture that tells us we’re all entitled to fame, fortune, and an army of adoring fans. Maybe our parents, friends, and loved ones have spent so long puffing up our egos that we start to believe we’re invincible.
Regardless of where our entitlement comes from, it’s tough to shake off those grandiose visions of ourselves. The reality is that this way of thinking can be downright harmful, setting us up for disappointment and frustration when our expectations don’t match up with reality. But what if we flipped the script?
Let’s talk about gratitude!
Gratitude is like the superhero alter-ego of entitlement: it swoops in and saves the day by turning us into humble, appreciative humans.
When we’re grateful, we’re basically giving props to the people who’ve helped us out along the way.
Gratitude keep us from turning into entitled brats, but it also makes us happier and more fulfilled. Plus, it’s just a nice thing to do, you know?
Next time someone helps you out or does something kind, don’t forget to give ’em a little gratitude high-five.
Photo credit to Lynn Johnson
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