WHAT SEPARATES PRIVILEGE FROM ENTITLEMENT IS GRATITUDE
















Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life
is the foundation for all abundance.” 


We need to know not only how to give, we also need to know how to receive. Both have to come from a clean space in our hearts.

I think, we have undermined the significance of the attitude involved with receiving.

A married young woman had come to visit her mother late last evening. When she saw me inside my office, she opened the door. “Hello sir, Merry Christmas,” she said as she came inside. I was delighted to see this woman after a long time. As I was talking to her, I handed to her two of my books and said warmly, “This is for you… You will love them.”

“Thank you so much sir,” the woman said excitedly looking at the books she had just received, “I love your writings… They are so simple yet so good.”

“I am glad to hear that,” I said, obviously feeling good about what I was hearing from this woman.

Just then, her mother came inside. “Merry Christmas sir,” she greeted, “This is for you, you will love it,” she pulled a plum cake from her bag and tried to offer me.

That was the Christmas cake the daughter had brought for her mother and the mother was offering it to me. “So sweet of you, ma’am,” I thanked the mother, “But, that cake is for you from your loving daughter… Please enjoy it. Your kind gesture is your gift to me… Thank you, ma’am.”

A few minutes earlier, a little school girl from the building, too, did something simple yet priceless. Seeing me inside the office, she got off her bicycle, parked it outside, plucked three-four fresh leaves from a plant in the garden and came inside, all charged up… “Merry Christmas sir… This is for you!”

“Thank you darling,” I pulled the little one into my embrace!

I truly feel, that giving and receiving both need to come from a clean space in our hearts. What spoils the beauty of receiving is our mentality of ‘entitlement. So long as we receive through this mentality, we will never ever be able to feel the value of what we receive… even if we are gifted with a Mercedes Benz! This mentality makes us judgmental and critical… It makes us read the motive behind those who give us… find fault in what we receive… compare with what someone else would have given us… so on and so forth.

Last evening, the mother did not think twice when she pulled out from her bag the plum cake given to her by her daughter... I saw her affection in that gesture… not what she was trying to offer me for Christmas… Similarly, when the little girl made her way inside my office to offer fresh leaves, what was that I had to see in her gesture?

There is another mentality called ‘being deserving’. The feeling of our healthy self-esteem comes from this attitude. Don’t we often say, “It is my privilege”? Does this statement come from our arrogance or critical mind, or does it come from our gratitude?

Brine Brown rightly said, “What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.” 

True. The lack of gratitude and the mentality of ‘being entitled’, turn our hearts into bottomless pits… While, with an attitude of gratitude, even a couple of fresh leaves can turn our hearts into bountiful gardens!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Barkha Manik

Comments

Anonymous said…
DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIExcb! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIbxcxbcE! DIE! DIxcbE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIEbcbx! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIbcxE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIxbcE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DcxbIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! xcbDIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!cx DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIExbc! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! bcxDIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! bxcDIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

"WE CHOOSE OUR JOYS AND SORROWS LONG BEFORE WE EXPERIENCE THEM."

WHEN A BIRD IS ALIVE, IT EATS ANTS... WHEN THE BIRD DIES, ANTS EAT THE BIRD

THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...