The best defense against comparison is a heart of gratitude.

Gratitude is the opposite of entitlement.

Entitlement is the corruption of unmet expectations.

Expectations are all around us and not all are inherently bad.

I would argue that you are currently acting based on an expectation. You expect that the furniture you’re sitting on will support you and that when you get to the end of this post you’ll have learned something interesting.

The real trick is determining what happens when your expectations are not met.

To have an expectation that a chair will hold you is not wrong, to think that you deserve to have a chair hold you is wrong.

You feel entitled after you have an expectation that falls through and you think you deserve it. Deserve is defined as:

1. do something or have or show qualities worthy of (reward or punishment).

The goal here is not to lower your expectations but to realize that when your expectations are not met in the end it was not because you deserved it.

To depend on receiving something solely because you deserve it will result in a vicious cycle of disappointment.

Instead set expectations with a heart of gratitude knowing that either way you can be content.