Entitlement is the archenemy of creativity, passion and
joy. When I read this recently, it was
in the context of a woman whose parents moved her from an exclusive private
prep school with every amenity imaginable, to a public school with little to
nothing to offer this advanced student who was used to being academically
challenged.
This author described the numerous extracurricular
activities that she was involved with at the prep school. Sports of all kinds, Fellowship of Christian
Athletes, social clubs, student government and a rigorous academic program that
would prepare her fully for college.
The public school that her parents transferred her to,
because of convenience was, as she described it, had lackluster academic
standards, rampant drug use, racial tension, campus violence and a total lack
of civility. But there she was, dropped
in the middle of this public school as a sophomore in high school. My heart
sank as I thought about this young woman having to not only move schools, but
to move to a school that sounded so atrocious, not unlike many of the public
schools in our society today.
Walk into some of our smaller schools and you can cut the
apathy with a knife. In fact, that lack of pride, and expectation of the worst,
is fed to the students on a daily basis by a staff who feels as unappreciated
as the struggling administration trying to keep the doors open.
I read this author’s story further and found that instead of
lowering into the standards of the school, she was able to rise above it and
pull others up as well. She decided to
stop with the entitlement mentality that nurtured her expectation that she
deserved more because of her privilege, and instead she began to build programs
that enriched the lives around her. This
was a place where she established a community of students who set goals and
accomplished them. While she could have thrown herself a pity party, she hosted
a leadership gala instead, where her peers could learn how to make a difference
in their own communities.
The mindset of this young teenager is inspiring. To decide to make a difference in her little
corner of the world instead of wallowing in her lonely, narcissistic state of
being, is something for all of us to emulate.
When we decide to get to work on making things better around
us, what we can accomplish is nothing short of amazing. The creativity and
passion that we are born with, are just waiting to be tapped into and can provide
the horse power to achieve great things. But it will never happen if we decide
we are owed a successful life. You were created to work, earn, and enjoy, not
sit and soak.
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