The historic John F Kennedy quote from his inspiring inaugural address goes like this ” Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”-
There is a cue in it for a lot of us defaulted in the thinking which goes something like this ” what does the world owe us? ” – this question not only is a trap that often goes unheard but comes from a place of unearned entitlement and fans the scarcity fuel.
Probably a better a question to ask would be ” what do I owe to the world ? “, which leads to opening the doors of possibility, exploration, adventure, connections, contribution and onward momentum. Waiting for the world to show us the way, fetch things onto our lap is an endless and futile wait. On the other hand, getting to doing things that leads to contribution is energizing and intrinsically motivating.
This extract from a Marianne Williamson quote sums it up nicely- “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”.
Yes, we owe it to the world! And that is the way we address the imbalance.