It made me wonder how God could care much about my dad and I in those moments. I figured He had better things to do. People more in need to help. He had God stuff. The truth my dad and I came to realize in those truck bed conversations was that we were God stuff. Somewhere the deity, that formed the celestial wonders in our view, gave us the very next breathe we took.
My eyes danced across the pinpricks of light trying to focus on the deepness of space. It was then… *SMACK* “Crap, that’s gonna swell up huge!” A mosquito, the North Carolina state bird, had decided to make a feast of my blood vessels while I was so intensely distracted by the hugeness of God. “Don’t scratch it. It’ll just get worse.” My dad reminded me. Yet all I could do was scratch and poke. I began to whine and fuss about how it was going to swell up and about how the bite had hurt. I had been sucked back into my own self. My dad laid there in the truck bed still staring up and the sky. I began to get angry. Couldn’t he see this mosquito bite was a big deal? Couldn’t he see that I was frustrated? Didn’t he care? *SMACK* “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
This silly story from my youth describes adequately the crux of The Entitlement Cure
Dr. Townsend provides for us in The Entitlement Cure a pathway back to the celestial focus in which we put the axe to the grindstone and do hard things the right way. His book is both challenging and encouraging. He provided the punch to the face of pride that we all need while offering the cold slap of raw t-bone steak to help the swelling subside. This book is my first must reading of 2016. We all need it. All of us. Get it. Read it. Live it.
More About The Entitlement Cure
Today we live in a culture that says, ‘Life should be easy and work well.’ This attitude, called entitlement, influences our most important institutions: family, business, church, and government. Its devastating effects contribute to relational problems, work ethic issues, and emotional struggles. It comes down to this: People are not getting to where they want to go, because they don’t know how to do life the hard way. Entitlement keeps them from tackling challenges and finding success. But whether readers are struggling with their own sense of entitlement or dealing with someone who acts entitled, The Entitlement Cure will equip them to turn away from a life of mediocrity to a life of engagement, satisfaction, and joy. Drawing from his experience as a counselor and leadership consultant, renowned psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. John Townsend explores strategies for fighting entitlement, such as: Take a meaningful risk every week – Find ways to minimize regret – Grasp the value of keeping inconvenient commitments – Understand why saying ‘I don t know’ is the first step toward success. In a culture that encourages shortcuts and irresponsibility, The Entitlement Cure provides principles and skills to help you both navigate life with those around you who have an entitlement mindset and identify areas in your own life where you are stuck in ‘easy way’ living. Dr. Townsend will show you how to become successful, resolve obstacles in life, and help those around you. Ultimately, The Entitlement Cure provides practical tools for a life of success that works for anyone.
