What can you do for me? What am I going to get out of it?

That seems to be the prevailing question these days. No one does anything for free, or because it’s the right thing to do. There always seems to be a catch, or something has to be gained from it. Is it a millennial thing? Is it just a generational thing?

The entitlement generation. A generation that feels something is owed to them – for doing not much of anything.

Contrast that to the Greatest Generation. One who didn’t ask what could be gained. One that didn’t ask what was in it for them. One that didn’t ask if there was danger. They just did it when they were called.

Today, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, we could use more people who answered the call without hesitation (not just drafted but volunteered) and did their duty without asking for anything. Even today, they don’t recognize that they are heroes. I have been told many times by vets of WWII, “We just did our jobs.” 

JFK said in a speech a few years later, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” We have far too many people asking for the country to do something for them. Too many.

It’s time to stop asking for. No one is owed anything. You earn it.

Hard work. Perseverance. Sweat. Time. Patience. Hard work.

Ask not.

Give.