A comfortable life attracts no sacrifices.
Most of us yearn for a comfortable life. A life that’s not excessive or flamboyant, but where we don’t have to struggle. There’s no joy in suffering.
Or is there?
The essential meaning of the noun “sacrifice” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is:
“the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone.”
There’s little that can be achieved without some form of sacrifice. If we have two options in front of us, and we chose one, we have sacrificed the other. The larger the sacrifice, however, the larger the outcome. For example, to become a practising medical surgeon, you’ve sacrificed up to 14 years of study. Or you sacrifice going out with your friends to spend time with an elderly family member.
Throughout life, we’re confronted with opportunities to make a sacrifice for someone. The sacrifice might not even be for someone you love or know. This kind of sacrifice takes courage. You’ll have to fight your inner desire for your own comfort. What you’ll be giving up is something you may need. This sacrifice doesn’t only deny you getting something, it takes something from you too.
A selfless sacrifice.
Being in this frame of mind — being of service — requires having a loose grip on things of this world. When your point of departure is not to gain, you’re free to give without any hang-ups. When there’s no benefit to you only the pain or cost of the sacrifice — you can humble yourself. When you forego your comfort for the sake of another, you’ve invested in that person. The result is thus not simply a transfer of benefits — this outcome grows with compound interest.
Even when we sacrifice, we can inadvertently be displaying superiority over the recipient. Trying to remain grounded and humble becomes an everyday struggle. Having the empathy to make a sacrifice that benefits someone comes from walking in their shoes. When you can feel what someone is feeling, sacrificing your comfort comes from the heart.
In a world of abundance, where scarcity is only a reality for the poor, making sacrifices seems less important. We have more than enough of everything we could possibly need to live a comfortable life. Yet, we want more. We’ve been sold the story that success and happiness are based on more. And in our quest to have more comfort, we’ve become numb to the plight of those less privileged than ourselves.
We don’t need to go far to see the suffering and hardship around us. Many of us are struggling through the pandemic, no one has been spared the negative effects. But many folks need your help right now. It’s time to dig deep and make selfless sacrifices on behalf of our fellow brothers and sisters in need.
When you live a life of sacrifice, the gratitude and thanks for what you have — even the love in your heart — will never fade.
Have an awesome weekend and please be generous! 😄
As always, thanks for reading 🙏
