The Myth of Entitlement
Monday, September 28th, 2009
There is a pervasive sore that has slowly spread in American culture within the past few decades which I believe is leading to the downfall of this once great nation. What I’m referring to is an undeserved sense of entitlement.
Many of us think we are entitled to a job, a bail out, health care, or a home that we can’t afford — not because of anything that we’ve done but because we feel it is our “right” to have it. And when problems come our way and we achieve less than this, we immediately begin to blame our parents, teachers, bosses, government, or God for this apparent injustice. We never want to fully face the real source of our problems – which is ourselves.
It’s not until we drop this sense of entitlement and take upon ourselves 100% responsibility for the outcome of our lives, that we will ever see the success we want as individuals and as a nation.
Two Choices
Jack Canfield, author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, taught a seemingly simple but very important formula that illustrates this idea of 100% responsibility. The formula goes like this:
E + R = O (Event plus Response equals Outcome)
Breaking this formula down, it basically means that your success or failure, your health or lack thereof, the measure of your relationships, how you handle a survival situation and basically every outcome of your life, is a direct result of how you have responded to the events that have happened to you.
Looking at this equation, you can see that you have two choices:
Choice #1: You can blame the events for your situation in life
When failure or disaster comes your way, you can blame the weather, blame your boss, blame your parents, blame society, blame the economy, blame your lack of resources, or blame the government for your failures, but it’s not your environment or any external factor for that matter that limits you – it is your response to that event!
Blaming the events takes the focus away from you (the Response) and sets it upon what’s not in your control (the Event). When you avoid taking 100% responsibility for your outcomes, you remove yourself from the equation and rewrite it as: Event = Outcome. You are thereby left with a convenient scapegoat for your problems. But with this faulty equation, you are only limiting yourself. These limiting thoughts and beliefs become roadblocks to your pathways to success, survival, or whatever outcome you desire.
It’s been said before that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you continue to engage in unhealthy eating habits, smoke and drink, waste time in front of the television, fail to build your relationships, not become prepared with food storage and survival skills, spend more than you earn, and then wonder why your life has turned out the way it has, you are following this recipe to insanity.
Unfortunately, this is the recipe that most people end up embracing. They achieve less than optimal outcomes in their lives and then they begin to point the finger beyond themselves exclaiming that they should be entitled to all those benefits without putting a nickel of effort in themselves. This is the easy way out. If you want to be average, choose #1, otherwise here’s another option:
Choice #2: You can simply change your responses to the events until you get the outcome you desire
Looking again at that equation, we see that we have no control over the events of our lives. The one variable that we do have complete control over, is our response to those events or stimuli.
The animal kingdom is dictated by stimulus and response. When a certain event happens in their life, they respond in an instinctual way. There is no forethought as to how they will respond, they just respond. We are unique from other creatures in the ability that we have to choose our response to a stimulus. This is exclusively a human endowment. In other words, we have free agency.
The bottom-line is that you are the one who has created your outcomes. If you’re not satisfied with how your life has turned out, then take a look at your past and realize that all your thoughts, words, and actions have resulted in your current situation. You may not be responsible for the events that happen in your life, or the environment in which you’ve been placed, but realize this one powerful fact – you are responsible for how you react.
If you want to be more successful, then respond in ways that produce more success. If you want a better relationship, then respond in ways that create better relationships. If you fear economic or natural disaster, then pull up your bootstraps and start preparing. If it’s health and fitness that you want, then know that it is your response to what foods are available to you and what day-to-day choices you make regarding exercise that determine your ultimate health.
It may sound simple. Well, that’s because it is. But remember, simple isn’t always necessarily easy. But I promise you that once you make this mental shift, you will be amazed at what the gift of free agency can bring you. Self-reliance is not an entitlement, it is a choice.
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As an avid outdoorsman, one thing I love to do is sit in one area of nature nearby my home and just observe. Most of my understanding of the outdoors has been gained through this simple practice. Along with that, I tend to keep a journal about what I observe, noting any patterns, or recording any questions that require further study. I also use it to journal unknown plants and animals, as well as the sign (tracks, trails, scat etc) they leave. My biggest frustration in all of this is when the weather is wet. Even when very humid but not necessarily raining, my notebooks are always getting destroyed. In the rain it becomes even more frustrating when the pages moisten and the pen I’m trying to use rips the pages, smudges, or doesn’t write at all. I gave up writing in the rain until I recently found the Rite in the Rain notebooks.
They are completely waterproof (you can completely immerse them without any ill-effects) and your pen will not rip or smudge the pages. Even during a downpour, you can write in them. They are also environmentally friendly since they do biodegrade and are recyclable. Another benefit is that they work well with pencil and the pencil doesn’t smudge (although it is difficult to erase but doable). What I usually do if I’m journaling a plant or animal track is to first draw it in pencil and then fill it over with pen when I get home. Another bonus is that the pages (from the field books) are more durable and do not get dirtly easily from sand, mud, or dirt.
. Since it’s green, it blends well when out in nature (where I’m from) and doesn’t glare — perfect for when you need to be discreet when observing animals or avoiding man since their coloring and limited light reflection won’t give you away. 
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The average American household is living in a similar manner to our government — off of borrowed money. We are replacing our future needs for our present wants. With the average consumer debt reaching around $10,000 per household, it has become an epidemic in the United States.
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