Gratitude Attitude vs Entitlement

By Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD

Several of my readers have asked me if the hoopla about expressing gratitude—saying, thanks to everything in our life—is all what it is touted to be. It is important to question the latest buzz phrase or tagline. Many people, who followed the latest fad, discovered they were being duped by its originator.

American society has become a society of entitlement. The entitlement attitude says, "life owes me something," "people owe me something," "the government owes me something," or "God owes me something."

First allow me to give some history as to how American society became a society of entitlement.
Beginning with the New Deal program, Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of providing relief, recovery, and reform to the people and economy of the United States during the Great Depression people have become indoctrinated to an entitlement attitude. Following the New Deal, dozens of agencies were created, which introduced class conflict, especially between business and unions. New Deal programs still in existence today are Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the primary regulator of Wall Street. Source: Allswang, John. The New Deal and American Politics (1978), voting analysis.

You can quickly and easily determine if you are in entitlement attitude, because the result you experience leaves you constantly feeling angry, resentful, or frustrated. If you believe that someone owes you something and that person does not come through, you feel angry. You resent being ripped-off and cheated out of something you think you deserve. However, that is what people with an entitlement attitude expect and demand.

Entitlement is a lie. It is a perversion of reality—as much as the government programs beginning with the New Deal is a perversion of reality. In truth the government can not provide enough programs or possibly meet all the demands of all the people all the time.

Expressing gratitude for everything in our lives, including, the things that we would prefer to have been different, is powerful and empowering. Expressing gratitude is within the Law of Cause and Effect. The Law of Cause and Effect embodies the truth that Law pervades the Universe; that nothing happens by Chance, that Chance is simply a term indicating cause existing, but not recognized or perceived, that phenomena is continuous and without fail or exception.

The Principle of Cause and Effect underlies all scientific thought, ancient and modern, and was enunciated by the Essenic Teachers in the earliest days. The universal laws are based on metaphysics and have been spoken of by the greatest thinkers, writers and leaders throughout time—Plato, Aristotle, Albert Einstein, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Dale Carnegie, The Power of Positive Thinking, Carl Jung; “What you resist persists.” Buddha, “All that we are is a result of what we have thought.”

If one authentically expresses gratitude without skepticism, it is awesomely life altering. When one is grateful for everything in their life--the good, the bad, the ugly, they are in charge of their life and therefore, can change the bad, the ugly and enjoy the good more. If we 'hate,' 'reject,' 'deny,' or 'pretend,' the bad and the ugly has nothing to do with oneself, one is dis-empowered and helpless. When we take responsibility for everything we experience--the good, the bad, and the ugly, we are empowered and powerful to effect change. We can not change that which we do not acknowledge. Expressing gratitude for the good, the bad or the ugly, is acknowledging what we have created (casued), therefore we can do something about it, if we so choose. Without acknowledgement we have NO choice.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, "101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life." Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one's daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net