entitlement - own it

i have this new habit. "behavior". when i need some lovin', i cry a little -- just enough to get their attention. then when they come over to pet me, i stretch up and crawl up their outstretched arm and sweetly perch myself on their shoulder. usually the left one. no particular reason why it's the left, it's just how it happens to end up. anyway, i love it. i'm up high, looking at life from a new perspective, they're holding me, i'm purring, they're making whatever sounds of contentment they choose to utter, and life is very, very good. i get what i want. and apparently, the arrangement is not too shabby for them either. it's a veritable win-win. and my initial concern, my sole primary intention was my own want. nice how that works out.

i feel entitled to that.

entitlement gets a bad rap these days. i guess there are different degrees of it. to some, entitlement connotes a sense of greed, of selfishness. of expecting to get rewards when you have done nothing to "deserve" them. getting the benefits without working for them.

believing that one is deserving of certain privileges. that's according to webster's. i mean, if i can write a blog, i certainly can look up words online. don't be so surprised.

so maybe it's really a case of what privileges we're talking about here. maybe that's where the conundrum lies surrounding this idea of entitlement. i believe that it is okay to feel entitled. and these are some of the privileges i most certainly deserve: to believe, know, understand that i am loved. that i am wanted and that i will be taken care of. that there is room for me. AND i feel i am entitled to these privileges by the mere fact that here i am! oh yes i am.

and so i will continue to ask for what i deserve. and if someone can't or doesn't want to give me what i want, they will let me know. they are entitled to do that. it doesn't mean i don't deserve it or that i'm not entitled to it -- it just means that they are unable/unwilling to give it to me for whatever reason they may have. so i go to the next one and meow at their feet.

so feel entitled. you do deserve privileges. the privileges that come with being here. and you'll be surprised how many out there want to support you in getting what you want. that's the beauty of it! it really is win-win. funny how when we get what we're really entitled to, we simultaneously give it.

you are entitled to happiness. to sadness. to having all your feelings. you are entitled to your place in the world. and yeah, do your part. but that's not as dire as it may sound. it's all in the showing up. the believing. the noticing. the asking. again, it's in the simple things. because those are the privileges really worth having. not the ones we get bogged down in -- the having-more-than, the being-more-than.

of course, you start by giving it to yourself. by believing that you DO deserve it. simply by being.

you are the stuff of stars. believe it. you are entitled to shine. it's your birthright.

meow -- ftw!
-zulu