Our Entitlement Mentality
Every Monday in the last 8 years I communicate to my staff, friends and associates through email in a series called My Thoughts. My Thought this week is inspired by a message shared by one of my mentors Alex Okoh in church on sunday. Based on the feedback I have received from recipients, I am led to share with a wider community.
"It is amazing how we usually seek Change, Transformation, and gain or benefit, but hardly ready to go through the pain that is required for the desired gain, almost in all cases.
We expect good governance, peace, good health, regular electricity, and stable exchange rate. Our youth expect jobs, fulfilled dreams. Our children expect variety of good food, toys, good schools, good clothes and good vacations. All of these groups I have mentioned expect these things as a right, things that they are entitled to. I beg to disagree.
Our society continues to emphasise gain, benefit, celebration etc., while consciously ignoring the pain/price required to be paid for the desired rights or entitlement to manifest. For example, many churches don’t even have services on Good Friday anymore to commemorate the crucifixion (pain), while a great focus is placed on Easter Sunday and Monday (the celebrations and glory or gain). Get my drift?
Nothing good comes to anyone without some element of payment or I dare say pain. There never is benefit without payment. No pain, no gain. The fact that I provide a good home, food, clothes, schools and vacation for my children (benefit/gain) does not mean that they got those things free. Oh yes they did not pay the price, but I did and continue to pay, heavily too. It is never free. Even where you may appear to be reveling in your own “gain” free of charge, somebody must have gone through the pain needed to produce that gain.
I don’t know what benefit or gain you are seeking, but I need you to move away from the entitlement mentality, and rather be driven by the fact that there can’t be gain without pain. So Get Involved, just as many Nigerians appear to have done with the elections of March 28, 2015.
So from this week, please get involved in what you desire and stay the course regardless of the pain. " - Esojay
"It is amazing how we usually seek Change, Transformation, and gain or benefit, but hardly ready to go through the pain that is required for the desired gain, almost in all cases.
We expect good governance, peace, good health, regular electricity, and stable exchange rate. Our youth expect jobs, fulfilled dreams. Our children expect variety of good food, toys, good schools, good clothes and good vacations. All of these groups I have mentioned expect these things as a right, things that they are entitled to. I beg to disagree.
Our society continues to emphasise gain, benefit, celebration etc., while consciously ignoring the pain/price required to be paid for the desired rights or entitlement to manifest. For example, many churches don’t even have services on Good Friday anymore to commemorate the crucifixion (pain), while a great focus is placed on Easter Sunday and Monday (the celebrations and glory or gain). Get my drift?
Nothing good comes to anyone without some element of payment or I dare say pain. There never is benefit without payment. No pain, no gain. The fact that I provide a good home, food, clothes, schools and vacation for my children (benefit/gain) does not mean that they got those things free. Oh yes they did not pay the price, but I did and continue to pay, heavily too. It is never free. Even where you may appear to be reveling in your own “gain” free of charge, somebody must have gone through the pain needed to produce that gain.
I don’t know what benefit or gain you are seeking, but I need you to move away from the entitlement mentality, and rather be driven by the fact that there can’t be gain without pain. So Get Involved, just as many Nigerians appear to have done with the elections of March 28, 2015.
So from this week, please get involved in what you desire and stay the course regardless of the pain. " - Esojay
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