By Rex Apollo
While teaching in the Middle East, I was served coffee every day on a silver platter. As a private tutor, my employer treated me very well. I had my own servant and often went out to restaurants in the gleaming new buildings built over the desert.
For many, experiencing such opulence would be the ideal situation, yet partaking in such luxury made me sluggish and lazy. I lost my drive to do more. I only worked when my student requested lessons and spent countless hours on videogames since I knew no one in the country. Over the course of my employment as a private tutor, I gained significant amounts of weight and was even told by someone that I looked like I never hit the gym.
Most people hope for such an existence even if it is out of reach. They believe the ideal life is one of luxury requiring no effort. This is the silver platter syndrome. Everyone wants everything in their life served to them on a silver platter. They believe in comfort over challenge.
Yet making the most of our lives requires us to overcome our inkling for such luxury. Even people in the wealthiest families know that a lack of motivation can destroy one’s soul. In my case, the silver platter began to negatively affect my health because I had no reason to aspire for higher. I lacked purpose in my life other than to live off the comforts of others.
When we aspire for the silver platter, we have no mission in life. We do not possess any drive or goals. Even if we are lucky enough to have a servant with silver platter, we must not let it weaken us. We must have a goal or purpose in mind.
No matter your station in life, beware of silver platter syndrome.
Rex Apollo is the author of How to Spark Your Golden Age: Tips for Success sold on Amazon.
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Just as great civilizations can have Golden Ages, so can you!