When you look at the big picture of your life, where you live, how you live, how much money you have, your health, your relationship or your job, do you sometimes feel life has cheated you in some way? You certainly wouldn’t be alone if you felt this way, in fact if you stay up to date with the media and what governments will tell you, it’s ok to feel this way, to feel entitled. Throughout life many people feel a sense of entitlement, they feel life owes them perhaps more than what they have and because of this they get bitter. Others however, don’t feel this way, they don’t feel they are entitled to anything more than what they show gratitude for. In their minds they have earned everything they have graciously. The difference between these people is some have an attitude of entitlement and the others have an attitude of gratitude.
You may have heard the saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”, meaning you don’t get something for nothing, well no truer words could ever be spoken. You get nothing for free, everything comes at a price. Life doesn’t owe you anything and for those that continue to feel this way, the journey ahead is going to be bumpy, to say the least. As you are reading this you may be wondering if you are one of these entitled people I have mentioned. Quickly let me just add that if you are it doesn’t mean you are a bad person it just means you need to be redirected. “Symptoms” include constant feelings of resentment towards others, frustration at the circumstances of your life and feelings of anger. Sound like you? You might enjoy the rest of this article then. I will freely admit I used to feel like this, years ago, and it was probably one of the reasons I became interested in personal development and the power of the mind.
Newsflash! There is no entitlement, the entitlement attitude is a distortion of reality and it is a lie. You may feel you are entitled to respect, fair treatment and support from others but what we get from others is a gift, it is not entitlement. What about your family, are you entitled to anything from them? No you are not entitled to anything, you may get a lot of love and support from your family but you are not entitled to it. If you get help and support from others and you feel you are entitled to it and perhaps you demand it you will eventually find it will dry up and disappear. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I mean justice and entitlement are the same thing. Justice is related to the laws of society, entitlement is what you think you are owed. Although in reality, even with justice, there is nothing in the universe to say you are entitled to justice. Morally speaking maybe you should receive justice but still you are not entitled to it.
So how do you adopt the gratitude attitude? To do this you must freely accept everything that comes to you with an attitude of gratitude. Whether it be good or bad, whatever comes to you, you need to look at it as a gift. Everything is a gift since everything is designed to teach you a lesson. Every lesson in turn helps make you more gracious and therefore a better person. Realize that life doesn’t owe you anything and be gracious for everything that you have and all that comes your way. Looking at life with an attitude of gratitude gives you the ability to see your true reality without the distortion of entitlement. The universe is the source, some may call it God, of all that we receive. Since our habitual thoughts control our reality, keep your mind on good things flowing to you and when you receive them your attitude of gratitude towards the universe will open the gates for you to receive more. It may take time to change your attitude but saying “thank you” more often would be a good start.
thanks to
John for this blog
