“The only thing you deserve is what you earn.”—Tom Brands
The above quote is easy to accept for the standpoint of athletics—no one deserves to win. We earn success through effort—through practice, training, strict diet and recovery strategies, coaching, etc. When we take this into the other realms of life, it can become a bit politically-charged. Certainly, there things that happen to people that are not earned or deserved—abuse, neglect, disease, etc. I would, however, argue that there is a choice is how we respond to our circumstance.
There is a trend toward victimhood in our society and a tendency to feel entitled. We feel we “deserve respect”. We “deserve to be treated fairly”. We “deserve to be paid more”. We “deserve….” It is true that people should respect others, treat others fairly, pay a fair wage, etc., but none of this is an entitlement. We earn respect. We earn fair treatment. We earn the wages we make (or rather should make).
Earning does not mean getting. That is one of life’s reality lessons—albeit a pretty crappy one. Entitlement requires no effort. Saying I “deserve” something doesn’t make it so. We need to earn our way.
If I want to be respected, I must be respectable. This doesn’t me I will be respected, but it does mean I earn the right to deserve respect.
If I want to be treated fairly, I must first treat others fairly. It is the “golden rule”: do unto others as you would have done unto you. This also means treating others fairly even—especially—when you are not treated fairly.
If I want to earn more money, I have to work. It is indeed sad that many jobs don’t pay a “living wage”. In my opinion, many jobs are not intended to or simply cannot. This is challenging in our society as many struggle to make ends meet. If we, as American’s, attempt define a living wage, we must compare global incomes. To say we “deserve” what we define as a living wage is objectionable. I live outside of Portland, Oregon where the cost of living is ridiculous. There is a housing crisis in Portland, as there is in many areas of the US. Rents and housing prices are obscene. (Other areas of the US are worse.) It is nearly impossible for many to get by. Do they “deserve” the apartments and homes they can’t afford? Of course, not. Is it unfortunate? Yes. We don’t, however, deserve any of the material things we desire—houses, cars, smart phones, etc. We are not entitled.
Entitlement strips people of their human dignity. It says that they are less capable than they are. It is, in my opinion, not a matter of worthiness—everyone is worthy. Everyone should be afforded the same opportunity. It is tough distinction. There are people across the spectrum of health and money who do not deserve what they have (or have not). Among these are those who maintain their dignity and those who have yielded their dignity. In the end, it is only dignity that is deserved—and it is earned by one’s actions.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!