The Flaw that is Entitlement

They say that the problem with Millenials is that they feel entitled to everything. They never have to work for the things they want, it’s all, “Ask & you shall receive.” The parents stopped disciplining their children. The parents decided to try to be the cool parents. The friendly parents. They miss out on very important lessons in life.

Lessons like sometimes when you fall off your bike, you’re too far away from home for mommy to come swooning & cooing at you making sure you’re okay. Lessons like, mommy won’t always be there to wipe away your tears & fix all your problems. Lessons like, the only person that will truly be there for you in the end is yourself. No matter how many friends you have or how close to family you are, they won’t always be there, not because they don’t care about you but maybe because they’ve passed on or can’t make it to you or end up in a hospital. You have to learn to rely on yourself.

But, if nothing else in life clicks, know this:

You are not entitled to anything aside from your own opinion.

Nobody owes you anything.

You don’t deserve anything you don’t work for.

Don’t be like all the other millennials. Know who you are & know that nothing you get in life is free just because you are you. Millennials are selfish because they weren’t disciplined. Millennials are selfish because they’re parents acted like they were their friends. Millennials are selfish because their parents give them anything & everything they could ever want & they expect it now. I’m not saying that I’m not a part of those Millennials because I am, I was born in the Spring of 95 & I am considered a Millennial but my mother did not treat me like a friend. She treated me like a daughter because that’s what I am. I’m not her friend, she’s not mine, we are Mother/Daughter. She didn’t give me whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, she made me work for it. She made me deserve it. My mother disciplined me. She spanked me when I was bad, she slapped me across the mouth when I was out of line. I don’t hate her for it, I thank her for it. We may not always see eye to eye & yes sometimes I think she’s a bitch but she’s my mother & she does what she does to teach me. She does what she does because she wants me to be a respectable adult, as do I.

I dated a boy - no names mentioned - who expected his parents to give him everything on a silver platter because “it’s their job.” “It’s what they’re supposed to do.” Now he was a smart boy, he was a bit reserved & nerdy but he was smart.

The minute he said those words to me, I knew I had to teach him a little bit about the world. He never had to work for a thing in his childhood because his parents didn’t make him. He did little chores, but he missed out on a few important skills for the world. His parents always gave him money. His parents always took care of him, never let him know of certain consequences of certain actions.

All I had to do was tell him the stuff I dealt with & he couldn’t fathom it at first but once it set in these were his new words, “I’m so sorry for thinking that way about my parents. I never knew how bad what I was saying was.” I told him that he needed to apologize to his parents, not me.

From that day on, I truly believe that he looked at his parents in a different light, he looked at the world differently. Of course there were a few other stories I told him about what I went through that helped him but needless to say, he learned.

My point in this is that there are too many kids out there nowadays who expect & who don’t realize how lucky they truly are. They don’t understand the concept of not being able to get what they want or it is brought to their attention & they think their lives are the worst. I’m not saying my life was terrible but I often didn’t get what I wanted but I never threw a fit or told my parents that I hated them or threatened to run away, I accepted it. I got a little butthurt but moved on.

I didn’t get my first cell phone until I was fifteen years old & then it got taken away from me & I didn’t get another REAL cellphone until I turned eighteen. I never got to borrow money from my mom to go to the mall, I never got to borrow my moms credit card either, I was never given a car, I was never bought a laptop, not until my eighteenth birthday. I still to this day have never had an iPad or a tablet, I was never bought brand new clothes from the mall or if I was, it was one outfit for the first day of school.

It wasn’t that my mom wanted to be spiteful, we just couldn’t afford it, a lot of the clothes I had were hand-me-downs from generations. We never got the newest game systems.

But in all this, not once did I expect my mother to get me any of those things. Nor did I expect my mom to get me any game systems - even the older ones. I wanted them sure but I knew better. I knew you couldn’t always get what you want & I dealt with it. This is something that many don’t believe or don’t WANT to believe. This is a problem.

With this being the thought process of my generation & many after me, how are we to trust the world in these peoples hands? It’s a scary thought. My hope is that you think about this next time you don’t discipline your kid for being disrespectful or talking back or demanding things that they can’t afford. Make them work, teach them responsibility, show them the way. Don’t let them walk all over you, do you want demanding jerks to “take care” of this beautiful Earth we call home? We worked hard to get it to where it’s at today, do we really want to let it all be for not?