What are we entitled to?

Entitlement is a word that many people use to describe their inalienable rights. The entitlement that comes with citizenship, the entitlement of the young, the old, the poor, the depressed, the overweight, the marrieds, the singles - in fact, just about everything and anything.

So what are we entitled to? Well, if I were to be completely honest I don't think we are 'entitled' to anything. We earn rights by demonstrating that we are trustworthy, honest, fair, dependable, decent, generous and all round good people. Do we all fit that bill? No, we don't - we all fail, we all fall short of these rather high standards.

We are all here to grow and learn and express our sense of purpose in a way that brings value to other people. It is in doing this that we earn our living, we develop values like trustworthyness, honesty, fairness, dependability, decency and generosity. It is a process of growth and awareness that leads to our personal fulfilment and the fulfilment of our dreams.

I am not in any way saying that we shouldn't uphold rights for others and defend those who cannot defend themselves. This is, in fact, part of our purpose to also develop compassion and humility. We do this by supporting others and helping them to get on their feet so that they too can develop and grow and express their purpose.

The more that people feel empowered to learn for themselves, take care of themselves and be an example for others, the more we will eradicate those issues that perpetuate dependency and foster a feeling of entitlement.

Ultimately, what we are entitled to is to live our life, as we see fit and to reap the rewards or consequences of our choices. To that, we are entitled.