Be Careful Of The Poor You Help
“A poor man is not a man without money. He is one who has head but can’t think out of his problem. He has an entitlement mentality.” These were the words of Nseobong Sunday. To Amartya Sen, “Poverty is not just a lack of money. It is not having the capability to realize one’s full potential as a human being.” Today, let’s reflect on not helping the person with an entitlement mentality.
Do you know that real poverty is not the absence of money in your bank account but the presence of a twisted mindset and potentials that are left fallow? Are you conscious that supporting someone who feels entitled to what you have is a way of encouraging poverty? The person with a purpose and focus, who recognizes his or her potentials and is on a mission to actualize them, though he or she may not have money in the pocket or bank account, is rich as the manifestation of his or her true person is a matter of time. Frank McCourt put it this way: “You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.” George Eliot attested thus: “Let my body dwell in poverty, and my hands be as the hands of the toiler; but let my soul be as a temple of remembrance where the treasures of knowledge enter and the inner sanctuary is hope.” The implication is that there is a difference between lack and depravation. While lack may be temporary and require financial and other forms of support, a depraved mindset such as an entitlement mentality needs internal reawakening instead of financial and other forms of external support in the name of help.
So, enhance your capacity to know who truly needs help. Know that it’s a waste of resources to try to help someone who is not ready to take responsibility for his or her life, possesses an entitlement mentality, is unwilling to deliver himself or herself from himself or herself, or sees you as the source of his or her problem. Be conscious that solving problems and throwing money at problems are not the same. Know that, sometimes, the best way to help some people is by not helping them. In some other instances, be alert that while some people may crave financial support or look up to you for employment or material things, what they actually need is deliverance from mental slavery or poverty mentality. When you feel emotionally pressurised to “help,” be aware that many have been victims of their hospitality for helping people that didn’t need to be helped or whose real needs were not the help they asked for. Are you hiring for your business? Focus on hiring people who key into your vision and are ready to support the business to grow rather than people who are focused on how the business will help their lives to be better. While the latter may make you appear as a good guy, it may be similar to setting yourself on fire to keep an ingrate warm.
As you step out, be willing to help, but be careful not to waste your resources on those that will make nonsense of your “help.” Never forget that those with entitlement mentality require self-deliverance rather than external appeasement with your scarce resources.
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Prof. (Engr.) Esang Esitikot is a professor of occupational health and safety, a COREN-registed chemical engineer, public affairs analyst, certified management consultant, World Safety Organization Ambassador, recognized Environmental Ambassador, marriage counsellor, youth mentor, reviewer for some international research journals and volunteer lecturer at the Institute of Health, Safety, Security and Environment, University of Uyo. He is a manager in the oil and gas industry and was recognized by Highstone Global University, USA as the occupational health and safety personality of 2024. He can be contacted via 08035103559 (Whatsapp only) or email (esitikot@gmail.com).
