09/06/2026
THE PEOPLE THAT REFUSE TO SEE
Are these human beings?
Sometimes you wonder.
Their first offense is that they never seem to see what you do for them. The sacrifices, the support, the kindness, the opportunities, the countless little things that make their lives easier somehow escape their notice.
And when they do notice, they receive it with an ugly sense of entitlement. Not appreciation. Not gratitude. Entitlement.
As though you owed them.
As though your effort was their right.
As though your kindness was merely you doing your duty.
Gratitude and entitlement cannot live in the same house. The moment entitlement enters through the front door, gratitude quietly leaves through the back.
But the third offense may be the worst.
You would think they are blind. Yet they are not.
They are only blind to what you do for them.
Curiously, their eyesight becomes perfect when it comes to your mistakes.
They miss your hundred acts of kindness but spot the one thing you forgot.
They overlook years of support but remember one occasion when you couldn't help.
They are awake to errors, oversights, imperfections, and shortcomings.
How can the same person who refuses to acknowledge your good deeds suddenly become an expert auditor of your faults?
What a combination.
What a trio.
I once heard of a man who sponsored his younger relative through school. He paid fees, bought books, provided accommodation, and even helped him secure his first job. Years later, the young man became successful. During a family gathering, someone asked him about those who had helped him along the way. He mentioned friends, colleagues, and even distant acquaintances, but never the man who had carried him through his most difficult years.
Yet when the older man was unable to assist him financially on one occasion, that was the story he told everywhere.
He forgot years of generosity but remembered one refusal.
Sadly, that story is not uncommon.
It happens in families.
A parent sacrifices for decades, but one unmet expectation becomes the child's focus.
It happens among friends.
A friend stands by you through difficult seasons, but one mistake suddenly erases years of loyalty.
It happens at work.
An employer overlooks shortcomings, pays salaries, creates opportunities, but a delayed promotion becomes the only thing remembered.
It happens in marriages.
One spouse spends years loving, supporting, and providing, while the other becomes consumed by a few imperfections.
May you never become the person described above.
May you be free enough to see the good that others do for you.
May you acknowledge it openly and gratefully.
May you celebrate people while they are alive to hear your appreciation.
May you get rid of every form of entitlement.
And may you learn to play down the faults of others while magnifying their kindness.
For people blossom where they are appreciated, and relationships thrive where gratitude lives.
