Entitlement? How much?
I remember waking up to the smell of breakfast at 7:30 in the morning. After taking a whiff I realized it wasn’t the Eggos waffles I was dreaming about but sizzling eggs on the stove. 😕
Lets look at some numbers:
- 1 in 9 people DO NOT have enough food to live a healthy life
- 66 Million children across Africa attend classes hungry
- 3.1 Million children under 5 die each year due to poor nutrition
Looking back at my slight disappointment at the breakfast, I realize that it is arrogant of me to have even the slightest bit of this disappointment. There should be no reason for me to complain due to that fact that I am even getting a meal this morning. Many children my age DON’T have this same luxury!
Living in 2020, in America, can put a curtain around our eyes. It can make us blind to the reality of a situation and make us take things for granted. This feeling of entitlement can go on to make us arrogant and weak.
Let’s look at another luxury we have… AIR!
Believe it not, everyone in the world can not leave the door and just take a BREATH! 🌬
Lets take a look at New Delhi…
India’s captial, New Delhi, faces some of the worst pollution in the entire Earth!
Numbers
Lets look at the Air Quality Index (AQI) for a few cities:
Boston : ~30
New York: ~50
Las Vegas: ~44
Beijing: ~160
New Delhi: usally around ~600 but…
Some areas are going wayyyy over!!!
The scale only goes up to 999!!! This is a crazy amount of pullution.
Breathing Delhi’s air for juts one day has the same impact as smoking a pack of 20 cigarettes!
I think its safe to safe that you are in a very good position. We should be thankful for the air that we have and for the ability to go outside and take a deep breath or fresh air. LITERALITY!! The air we breath is not a luxury everyone has.
It is easy to forget this since we constantly need air and may take this for granted.We need to take moments and reflect on these things. It does not make any sense to be blind of these things.
Being arrogant can lead us to taking things for granted.
John F. Kennedy talks about the feeling of thankfulness in his Veteran’s Day Speech. This was addressed to all the soldiers in the Vietnam War.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”-JFK
Soldiers and protection is not something that everyone has. Although there is lots of controversy about the military, it can be agreed that we are lucky to have it. Soldiers sacrifice their lives for us and we must not be anything but thankful for it.
Ok so, what can we do about it?
Well the first thing you should do is reflect. If you can recognize how blessed you are compared to the rest of the world, you have passed the first step. The feeling of entitlement is not something you want to be sanitized to.
Now how can we really hone in on getting rid of this feeling. Here are some ideas of what I did:
- Make a list for 24 hours on all the things that you gained value from
Some of the top three things on my list were Family, Food, and an Education.
- Get rid of something important you → helps you recognize its value
I decided to sleep on the floor and I really love my bed. The next morning my back definitely reminded me of my bed’s value.
- Make a meal for someone, if you already don’t make meals for your self
Believe it or not, making a meal is far from a simple task. Miss one ingredient and your pancakes looks like cookies.
Don’t feel as if you deserve something. Just be thankful you have it.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to check out my other articles on Medium and connect with me on Linkedin!
If you’d like to discuss any of the topics above, I’d love to get in touch with you! — Send me an email at sbmohammed03@gmail.com or message me on Linkedin!
