The World Owes You Nothing
The world owes you nothing. This simple statement is so difficult for some people to grasp that they'll perform mental gymnastics to avoid confronting it. The word "deserve" is highly misused and grossly overused. Barring a few contextual scenarios, you deserve nothing. The world owes you nothing, and you should demand nothing from it.
Those who walked before you inherited a world they didn't like. They received abilities they felt were insufficient. They lived among people they thought didn't deserve their titles, nobility, and riches. Today, the same phenomenon persists. There's a common belief that if someone is rich, they must be evil—because if becoming rich were ethically possible, wouldn't everyone have done it? Not for a second are they willing to entertain the idea that maybe they are mediocre.
Of course there are injustices in the world, but not everything is unjust. Much of the time, success comes from skill, persistence, and disciplined effort—without any sense of entitlement. On one hand, we have people who think they deserve the world and that the rich should serve them simply because they have more money. On the other hand, we have people who think that because they've suffered more or longer, they deserve more attention and respect. Neither makes sense.
Your suffering is yours alone, just as your money would be yours alone. The wealthy haven't taken their money from your share. The beauty of capitalism is that you can create wealth. Anyone can become rich enough to transform their life. And yet, despite all the opportunities, some will always complain. When you're hellbent on complaining, you'll never run out of things to complain about. When your entire personality revolves around finding faults in others, you'll inevitably find them.
If you know someone like this, avoid them at all costs. Don't bother trying to change them—you cannot. It's impossible. If you recognize such thoughts in yourself, it's critically important that you don't fall into this trap. The feeling of "deserving" is a silent snare that pushes you toward entitlement. Keep in mind: the world owes you nothing but courtesy. Everything else is charity.
One of the simplest ways to escape this mindset is to stop viewing the world through a good-versus-evil lens. Discover opportunities everywhere. When you find someone doing better than you, observe their personality. See what they do differently, what opportunities they seized, and why you couldn't. If possible, ask them how they did it.
When you start seeing the world in terms of opportunities, you'll likely find many. You get what you persistently seek from the world. If your goal is to better your life, why waste it counting someone else's money or complaining that the world isn't better? These are the cards you've been dealt, so this is the game you must play.
And the only way to win is by giving up entitlement. The world owes you nothing.