Someone reminded me of a post I shared many years ago.
A lot of human unhappiness is caused by thoughts of what the world and the people in it owe us. ‘These thoughts are caused by the world view — “I’m a good person. I’ve done good for … and, so, … owes me for it.”
This world view causes expectation and this expectation results in inevitable disappointment. It is also foolhardy for many reasons; the first of which is that we vastly overestimate the effects of our actions.
Things get much better when internalize 2 truths —
1. Nobody owes you anything (no, not even a thank you)
2. It is actually you who owes the world and its inhabitants.
You take up space (physical and emotional). And you better have something good to show for it.
A teammate of mine has a great maxim – “The thank you is the paycheck.” He uses it every time he senses entitlement either from someone around him or from himself.
I thought of both of these ideas recently as I realized I needed a reminder of this.
If you’re on the field, figure out what you need to do to play and win. Else get off the field and go play another game.
No point whining or complaining about circumstances that fall short of your expectations – nobody owes you anything.
