#EditYourLife: Entitlement

To me, there are few things worse than entitlement. 

Entitlement being defined by Merriam-Webster as "...the condition of having a right to have, do, or get something, the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something (such as special privileges)."

This one is going to be a quick one, but I know you will get the point. So let's edit.

There are things you ARE entitled to:

You are entitled to your pay check, but only when you have a job. 
You are entitled to be treated as a human being, but you should also think about how you treat others.
You are entitled to services you have paid for, but don't forget the people who are serving you.
You are entitled to special acknowledgment, but only when you do something worthy of it (like actually winning something, working hard and performing outstandingly, not just for general participation. There are no participation trophies in real life.)

But you are not entitled to everything:
This basically falls under everything else you didn't work for.

It is sad, but my generation gets the worse reputation for this. And while we could blame our parents, society and everything else, the truth is that, if we dare to call ourselves adults, we need to take a good hard look at how we live our lives and craft them into something worthy of the title of adult. Meaning, wherever we find the spirit of entitlement rising in our actions, in our words, in our dealings daily, we have to combat it with a spirit of humility.

Approaching life with humility, not thinking lower (or higher) about yourself, but viewing yourself soberly and clearly, you are more apt to find what you are looking for. Where people are repulsed by entitlement, people respect humility, people welcome humility, people gravitate toward humility.

The long and the short:
Everything we are entitled to comes with a stipulation on our part: We are only entitled to the things we work for. That's it. 

My personal belief is that The spirit of entitlement is of the worst traits in humanity. It causes us to do some of the worst things. It makes us treat each other so, so poorly.

The spirit of entitlement makes someone steal things. 

The spirit of entitlement abuses an animal or a child because they feel bigger. 

The spirit of entitlement rapes a woman because it wanted power over someone. 

The spirit of entitlement robs a continent of its people and its people of its culture.

The spirit of entitlement clears a land of its inhabitants because "manifest destiny". 

The spirit of entitlement sees our own humanity and denies the humanity of another. 

The spirit of entitlement must go. Time to do better.

What did you think of this #EditYourLife? Agree? Disagree? I want to hear from you. Drop a comment below!