Entitlement! It's like an evil disease!

Entitlement: noun : belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges.

If you sign a contract stating that company X will pay you $5,000 for your services (typing data to serving food, to being the boss of everyone) then YES, you do deserve your money.  You work for it, you earn it. 

I have just been overwhelmed lately by the crazy sense of entitlement I see everywhere.  And believe me when I say, I have NOT been immune to this disease.  I definitely went through a phase where even though I KNEW I didn't deserve to get something for nothing, I wanted it to work that way...

And if we're all honest, we've all been there, done that at least for a short moment in time.  I've worked since I turned 16.  Started Domino's pizza the day after my 16th birthday.  I paid for my gas, my car insurance, eating out etc.  I'm not saying my mom or Grandparents never slipped  me some cash to help me out, what I am saying is that I mainly worked for my "stuff."

I got to do some really cool stuff when I was younger and a lot of that was courtesy of family members who were willing to let me have opportunities they didn't.  Mainly travel, in high school.  Major blessings.  So this is in no way a rant about how I was never "given" anything cause that just would NOT be true.  Having said that....

People.  Work is not always fun.  Even if you LOVE your work, there will be bad days, days you don't want to get out of bed, days you just want to go out and have fun.  I get that.  But what do you think pays for that fun?  Or that bed you want to lounge in?  Am I saying that taking a mental health day now and again is a bad thing?  Absolutely not.  What I am saying is: Stop whining and start doing! 

Fun after working hard to earn is that much better!  And sometimes fun is a long way off and it seems like hard work is all it will ever be....there is end at the light of the tunnel.  As Dori would say "just keep swimming!" 

I've recently said to a few different people: "Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to "bad" people."  As a Christian, I know that I have definitely NOT gotten what I "deserve" which without the blood and Grace of Jesus would be eternal damnation.  If that's too much for you (and I know for some of my non believing friends-that's pretty deep and serious stuff) I just think that people don't get what they deserve in general, even by our cultural sliding scale of what we deem good vs bad. 

In our culture, I would be deemed a good person.  Well, my firstborn daughter died.  Did I deserve that?  No.  This is why I say to people, life isn't about deserving.  It's about serving.  Serving our God, serving our families, our employers, our neighbors, and, yes, even those we don't like.   It's not easy, and it's not always fun or comfortable.  But it's right.  The more we serve others, the more we see serving in our own lives.  What we put out into the lives of others we get back in spades.  Jesus tells us it is so in Luke 6: 38:

"³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Sometimes I love using the message translation.  Today is one of those times:

^37-38"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."

Seriously, how true and awesome is that? 

I believe we need to start being more aware of those around us and less focused in on our own needs and wants.  This is not saying that you shouldn't care for yourself, because you do need to take care of yourself.  It's as important as caring for your  world. 

I'm not really sure where I wanted to go with this when I started...I just needed to vent.  Life isn't about what you can get, it's about what you can give.  I don't have much in material ways, but I have hands and feet that work, a heart that feels...And I have love and happiness to share with my world.