Sacrifice

Sacrifice is doing the things you have to do today so you can do the things you want to do tomorrow.

Everything worth having in life requires some sort of sacrifice; relationships, career moves, success. If you sit back and think about it, every great thing you’ve ever accomplished in your life was precipitated by a decision to forgo something you wanted to do, to do something you needed to do to attain your goal.

Take for example law school. Law school sucked and anyone who tells you different is a LIAR. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself and appreciate the friendships, tools and experiences during the 3 year ordeal, but it still sucked. There’s nothing fun about going days without sleeping and when you do get sleep, at times averaging 4-5 hours of sleep. There’s nothing fun about reading hundred year old constitutional law cases written in a language no one speaks any more. There’s nothing fun about having your fate in one class riding on one test at the end of the semester and then having that offset/altered by this dreadful thing called a curve. But I did it and I’m in a better place because of it. There are a lot more doors that are open to me simply because I have that piece of paper and I am forever appreciative of the fact that I was able to stick it out.

Sacrifice is a thing I don’t think enough of us do. In my opinion, too many people expect things to be handed to them. In my line of work, I deal with way too many people who have a sense of entitlement; who feel as though the world owes them something. Newsflash: The World Doesn’t Owe You a Damn Thing—not me, not the government, not some stranger off the streets. The only things we’re entitled to are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Everything else is extra. Sure it would be nice to not have to work for anything, to be handed everything on a silver platter and never have to go without. But for most people that’s not reality. Reality is, is that life is hard and we all go through things sometimes. I’ve found that the things that I’ve had to work the hardest for I appreciate the most. When I received my degree, I sought out the nicest frame I could find to put it in. Why? Because there was a lot of hard work, sweat, tears (yes tears), sleepless nights and anxiety attacks that went into me achieving it, and because of that I wanted to take good care of it and display for everyone to see.

The best things in life aren’t free. Luxury cars, vacations and nice clothes cost money. Productive relationships, degrees, life fulfillment all require a fee. No it’s not monetary but it is a debt we must pay nonetheless.

Don’t fear making the sacrifice. Don’t fear doing the hard things just because they’re hard. Do the hard things keeping in mind that it won’t last forever and that it’s the next step towards reaching your goals and that you’ll be a better person for it. Adversity builds character and for every obstacle, hurdle, trial and tribulation you encounter and overcome, you’ll be that much wiser, stronger, and empowered to withstand the next tough test. Stay up and be blessed.