[April 9, 2022] Realize that nobody owes you nuttin’. Not only does no one owe you anything, you owe the world everything. Once you accept this truth, you will be forever free to pursue your future as you wish.
It’s never too late to start.
Because I grew up under the watchful eye of my maternal grandmother, we called her Bigmama; I quickly learned some simple rules in “her” house. I’m not your maid. Get your butt in here, now! Elbows off the table. Don’t do anything stupid. And, nobody owes you nuttin’. If our grandkids wanted to eat breakfast, have a cookie, or have fun outside with my cousins, we first had to do a few chores. This included helping do the laundry, clearing out wasp nests (my favorite), and sweeping the porches.
“Realize that nobody owes you nuttin” is one of the most important rules because it sets the conditions for everything else. Orient yourself to this idea, and your world will instantly look brighter. You can only be free if you give up on the idea that people owe you something. It may seem corny to point this out, but there is no free lunch. Someone pays. I figured out fast that taking a handout made me accountable to others. I didn’t like that one bit.
We are bombarded with television, movies, and social media that tell us we are worthy people and are entitled to live a prosperous, healthy, wonderful life where we are beautiful, have great careers, free education, and a low-stress, comfortable life. Unfortunately, they are teaching us terrible life lessons. And not only are they wrong, but they are helping create a generation of young people who are routinely disappointed and unhappy because they didn’t get what they “deserved.”
Politicians are the first to tell us that we are owed something just because. Just because we are alive, or that we are a citizen, or we meet their recent definition of a particular victim group. If you want it, you should have it, we are told. Folks line up to get their goodies but will inevitably come away disappointed.
This disappointment turns to bitterness and resentment. Those same people who tell us we are entitled also tell us we are victims and now deserve some form of compensation. The pity party never stops, and the results are awful; high suicide rates, increased property crime, random muggings and violence against people. Bitterness and resentment are a negative feedback loop that repeats without end.
Count your blessings. People don’t owe you a lovely home, an education, fashionable clothes, a modern cell phone, good health, or immunity from tragedy. I only wish that were so. But that is not the case. Our government does owe us some level of blind justice and safety, but we must all work hard to bring this about as a reality.
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Please read my new book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).
This is one of the first and most important lessons I learned in the US Army. You got the message right away because the Drill Sergeants were telling you this all the time. It was their way of breaking you down and forcing you to accept that you had better be part of the military team or you were nothing but a dirtbag.
Sounds like the title of a new book by Gen. Satterfield to me. Ha Ha. Just kidding. But I know Gen. S. loves the topic. I can tell by all the articles he writes with this as a subject. Keep up the great work Gen. Satterfield, I’m a huge fan.
Great article today! I couldn’t agree with you more. I also grew up with a wonderful grandma. Only her name was Nonna Rosa. I looked up to her and received so much love from her. She taught me that in order to have a good life I had to work hard, respect my mother and father and do what God called me to do, and if I did wrong that there were consequences. Well, my Nonna was right!
Great comment Armywife! Go USA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Yeah cool. Nonna Rosa!
Yep, and there are many here that know that what Gen. Satterfield is writing on is all about being more than you can be. MORE THAN YOU CAN BE. That is what leadership is about and leading men to be better men than they think they could be.
Only slightly off topic, but has anyone noticed that the Democrats have finally rejected Joe Biden? Saw him wondering around a room with Barack Obama and everyone, including Barack ignored him. Biden’s poll numbers are so low (despite the media propping him up) that even the Dimms are starting to say he has to go. The anti-American Dimms are about to get crushed in the upcoming election.
Record inflation, record crime, open borders, disaster in Afghanistan, criminalizing moms at school board meetings, gross racial and gender discrimination, divisiveness from the WH, and on and on. That is what Marxism brings. Always has, always will. The Democrat Party is all in. And America is, I hope, finally waking up to their destructiveness.
Pres Biden is no leader. Everyone knows it now. Why it took so long for America to figure it out? Insanity.
Willie you are thinking exactly like me. Read what Gen. Satterfield wrote in this article. He makes a thorough argument why Biden is not a good leader. Gen. S predicted the destruction that Biden would do and his ultimate failure if “elected” as president. His predictions have come true.
https://www.theleadermaker.com/leadership-comparison-biden-vs-trump/
Good comment Kenny. Even the radical leftist news reporters (Need I repeat myself), are turning on Joe Biden.
Don’t liberals ever listen to themselves talk or, are they part of some collective brain-dead hive mentality that keeps on pushing them into groupthink mode? I would hate to be one of them. Sad. Just listen to them deny reality.
Never going to fly. Marx is their god, progressivism (neo-Marxism) is their religion, and social justice is today’s fashion. What will it be tomorrow?
Personal responsibility — gee a new concept, Not.
Excellent article. Thanks. I forwarded this one to my friend who lives in LA and (of course now after two years of Biden) wants out of LA but can’t afford to leave.
……. and you can’t even buy a gun there to protect yourself. And the police won’t help you either.
Good idea. Always support Gen. Satterfield by getting his book. Others say it but ACT.
Great analysis Gen. Satterfield. Here is the main point of Gen. S’s article … to the exact point:
“The pity party never stops, and the results are awful; high suicide rates, increased property crime, random muggings and violence against people. Bitterness and resentment are a negative feedback loop that repeats without end.”
Good one, Gen. Satterfield, well written and to the point.
Ha Ha, isn’t that a millennial asking for a handout? I thought so.
Yes, one of the best articles in a long time. I like it because if you adopt this way of thinking – according to Gen. Satterfield – then only by doing so can you be free. Free is something that the woke generation will never get. They will always be slaves and they want it that way.
Right, Mikka they want to be the victim. Like the baby who cries for his mommy, they want their mommy (big govt) to come and save them. No responsibility. ✔
Sad, isn’t it. These young people will not know freedom and will not know their own minds. They are part of the Hive.