Nobody said it better than Jill Scott in her popular song, "Hate on Me" when she sang "if I could give you the world on a silver platter, would it even matter?" The truth is, it wouldn't matter, because society today would respond with:

"Well, you owe it to me anyways."

Thank you, Jill Scott, for speaking out about just how undeserving our society has become. Instead of working for what we want, feeling the sense of pride and still remaining humble, we settle for "good enough" and in turn get disappointed when we don't receive the same results as someone who just gave it their all.

Of course, this doesn't include everybody. I know tons of people who do work incredibly hard for everything they have, do exceedingly well in school, and still insist that it is not good enough. But I overheard a conversation full of "I deserve this" and "I deserve that", and I realized that too many people have the idea that the world owes them something, specifically the things that our ancestors have had to work so hard to earn.

So, what prompted this misunderstanding? I believe that lies in the assumption that our presence is enough; because we took the time to show up, we deserve to reap the benefits. We have been shown a time or two that "good enough" is all that it should take to earn the things that only constant tribulation would usually earn. A perfect example of this is seen in the college atmosphere.

One student studies constantly, goes above the expectations, and earns an A in the class. The student next to him has skipped class a couple of times, failed to read the syllabus, and rarely participated in discussions. This student receives a B in the class and wonders what went wrong; they did do the required work but skipped out on the aids that the other student had made a priority. This student goes on a rant, emailing professors, calling Mom and telling her that he really does care, and he says that he deserves an A.

The point of this example is to show just one instance where somebody claims they deserve something without putting in the work.

I could ramble on and on about other examples, and there are plenty, but I believe the point has been made.

If we are going to talk about all of these changes that need to be made in our world, we need to stop having the attitude that "good enough" should lead to success, because it absolutely will not work. Do not demand respect and praise when you have done nothing to earn it, and do not demand high stature without putting in the preliminary work that will get you there. It doesn't matter what it is, putting in 110% should be standard protocol. Until then, stop walking around like the world owes you something - go, earn it instead.