I Deserve Minions!
I wrote this essay in much more of a first-person than usual. I'm not sure why.
I do think this is an important idea, though. We think so much about what we deserve. It occupies our language, our thoughts, our dreams. So many people wait for what they "deserve" to fall into their laps. So many people wait for life to come to their door instead of running out and claiming it for themselves.
We deserve many things from each other, just as we owe many things to each other. It's what we get for living in society: debts and gifts. But the Divine itself owes us nothing. Life is a gift, as is what we do with it. For that give, WE owe the Divine to use it .. to live fully and share ourselves with the world.
What do I deserve? Nothing, from the Divine. From people around me, I deserve to be treated fairly .. good for good, and ill for ill. Doesn't mean I always get it, but that's what's deserved, and that's why when someone acts against that implied deserving is so harsh. But that's all we "deserve".
How would my life change if I saw life as a gift? I try to do that already, and it has changed my life. Joys are more clear when they're gifts. Even when I've earned the gift, it's still a gift, because that is life. I could focus on the bad things .. but I like life better when I focus on the good. :)
I think owing things to other people and to the community at large is easier. We can see who does and doesn't follow through with their obligations, who is and isn't honorable. This is clearly easier in smaller communities. But we all owe things to each other. What's owed to us .. It's very different to look at things as what we should get and what we should give.
We focus so much on what we want, what we think we've earned, what we can get. Life is so much richer for everyone when we focus on what we can give, what we can be for each other. Sure, you can live your life for your gadgets and your perfect house and what you can get out of people. But it's a pretty lonely way to live.
Stop "deserving". Start earning. And actually LIVE.
I do think this is an important idea, though. We think so much about what we deserve. It occupies our language, our thoughts, our dreams. So many people wait for what they "deserve" to fall into their laps. So many people wait for life to come to their door instead of running out and claiming it for themselves.
We deserve many things from each other, just as we owe many things to each other. It's what we get for living in society: debts and gifts. But the Divine itself owes us nothing. Life is a gift, as is what we do with it. For that give, WE owe the Divine to use it .. to live fully and share ourselves with the world.
What do I deserve? Nothing, from the Divine. From people around me, I deserve to be treated fairly .. good for good, and ill for ill. Doesn't mean I always get it, but that's what's deserved, and that's why when someone acts against that implied deserving is so harsh. But that's all we "deserve".
How would my life change if I saw life as a gift? I try to do that already, and it has changed my life. Joys are more clear when they're gifts. Even when I've earned the gift, it's still a gift, because that is life. I could focus on the bad things .. but I like life better when I focus on the good. :)
I think owing things to other people and to the community at large is easier. We can see who does and doesn't follow through with their obligations, who is and isn't honorable. This is clearly easier in smaller communities. But we all owe things to each other. What's owed to us .. It's very different to look at things as what we should get and what we should give.
We focus so much on what we want, what we think we've earned, what we can get. Life is so much richer for everyone when we focus on what we can give, what we can be for each other. Sure, you can live your life for your gadgets and your perfect house and what you can get out of people. But it's a pretty lonely way to live.
Stop "deserving". Start earning. And actually LIVE.
posted by Vieva | 11:49 AM
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