Gratitude is the separation between privilege and entitlement

The pastor at my local (virtual) church made the above statement in a service I recently listened to. We, as a society, often take the word “privilege” or the state of being “privileged” as a negative thing. A privilege is something you have that is a resource or benefit to you that may not be available to others. Now, in my opinion, being “privileged” is not necessarily a bad thing; it all depends on how you use those privileges, right? Do you see those privileges and feel a sense of entitlement simply because you have them? And others don’t? And because others don’t, they’re somehow less than you? On the flip side, how do you feel when others seem to be even more privileged than you are? Do you feel angry, jealous, envious, etc.?

Just because you have more resources available to you than someone else, doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person or that you don’t deserve those resources. But, are you grateful for those resources? Do you look at your life and think, “Oh my. How LUCKY am I that I have a warm, cozy house to come home to after work. How LUCKY am I that I can take vacations with my family every year. How LUCKY am I that I have a job that doesn’t make me want to completely tear my hair out. THANK YOU, Universe, for blessing me with all of these privileges.” On the flip side, just because someone is more privileged than you, doesn’t mean they’re a bad person or that they don’t deserve everything they have in life. You don’t know their backstory or how they got to where they are today. It all comes down to how people handle, respond to, and/or use the privileges available to them.

While we, as a society, often think of being privileged as a negative, we have also come to feel VERY entitled. Ex.: because my parents raised me to live “X” lifestyle, I’m entitled to live that lifestyle for the rest of my existence. Well, Generation Z (aka Post-Millennials), I’m here to tell you that the world does not work that way. Just because you were raised a certain way, does not mean you automatically get to live the exact same lifestyle without ever having to lift a finger. This is a MAJOR problem in today’s society, people! I’m begging you parents out there…make your children WORK for their future. My parents gave us a lot; I will never be one to say we went without…not even in the slightest. BUT, we worked. If we wanted to go to the movies or to the mall with our friends, we paid for it with money we earned ourselves. We were privileged, for sure. Not as privileged as others, but we lived a great childhood. But, because my parents instilled in us the value of money and WORKING for that money from a pretty early age, I can now have a complete sense of gratitude for the way we grew up and the way I now live my life.

Now, the pastor wasn’t taking this statement in the exact direction I just went (sorry…I get a little heated when the topic of the younger generation and entitlement comes up), but it’s all kind of intertwined/entangled. The more gratitude you have in anything…your work, your relationship, your health, your financial stability, etc…the less distance you’ll have between you and that “thing”. There’s a balance we have to strike. It’s okay to be privileged. It’s not okay to be entitled or to feel entitled. If you live a life of gratitude instead of entitlement, God (the universe, spirit, etc.) will bless you in so many ways. That’s really all He wants from us, right? For us to be so extremely grateful for everything that has been given to us; for everything that has blessed our lives.

Take a look at all of the privileges in your life. No matter how you grew up, no matter what kind of lifestyle you’ve lived or are currently living, you’ve been blessed in some form or fashion. Now look at the emotions that come up within you when you think of those privileges and blessings. Do you feel eternally grateful for them? Or do you feel entitled? If the answer is the latter, I encourage you to take a step back and analyze why you feel that way. Is it because you never really worked for those privileges or blessings…that they were just handed to you? Is it because you’ve just never really thought about it before? Never thought about how or why those blessings fell upon you? Whatever it is, try and flip how you feel about your privileges. Flip those feelings into extreme gratitude instead of entitlement. If you’re able to do that, the Universe is going to bless you in SO many additional ways.

A place to be #unapologeticallyme.