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Sacrifice:
Which Lambs will you send to the Slaughter?
Sacrifice is alive and well and you probably know someone who has done it
You may even have done it yourself
And it is essential you do, if you want to be someone you respect, admire, or love
Ok, let me explain before you send the RSPCA round…
The notion of sacrifice is – so far – one of the most interesting and important concepts I’ve learned about on my journey of strength & personal development
The basic premise is; we live in an environment of almost limitless potential. We can, as individuals, have, do and be whatever and whomever we desire for ourselves
The catch is that in order to achieve anything of substance we must first sacrifice the potential for having/being all the other things
We must sacrifice large parts of ourselves too. There are parts of you who cannot be allowed to live, if you wish to bring a better you into existence (hence the lambs to the slaughter reference; you are the lambs and you are the sacrificial altar simultaneously)
You also have to make a bargain with the future
That it will deliver what you want if you make the appropriate sacrifices and carry out the required behaviors – and this bargain comes with no guarantees, which means you also need a hefty dose of courage!
What exactly are you sacrificing in order, for example, to become who you truly want to be?
- Comfort, warmth, the easy life
- The immediate rewards of modern living and instant gratification
- Connection to those who are only into you for who you are now. For who you are as your smaller and less-well-defined self
- All of the other ideas of who you thought you might become – you can’t be an astronaut and a world champion surfer at the same time (probably)
- Any guarantees that you will be safe, warm and fed, or that you will actually get what you want
- The pursuit of mere happiness as a goal
- The ability to avoid facing your deepest, darkest fears
The list goes on, and in reality never ends
In fact, the higher you set your sights, the higher the price becomes (if you want to call it a price, maybe it’s simply a fair exchange)
But let’s make this more relevant, and a bit more lighthearted, and use an example from my recent personal life – Dating Apps!
Talk about the Potential for The Many vs. the Potential for The One!
Holy Swipe-Fest Batman!
If you’ve been on one of these things you’ll know exactly what I mean. It’s easy to rack up Like after Like, Match after Match, and Date after Date
You can easily end up with multiple dates PER DAY
But if, like me, you’re after something a bit more meaningful than the 3-date-tango (ask me about that another time), you have to adopt a more stringent dating policy
I quickly learned that trying to date more than just 1 person at a time was bloody expensive, emotionally draining, boring and physically exhausting
But more to the point, it meant that I was never fully focused on just 1 person. I was always on the lookout for the next best thing AND acutely aware that any woman I was dating was likely doing the same
And if you’re not able to go all-in, to give just 1 person a shot to see where it goes, you stand zero chance of finding anything meaningful
You’ll always be holding back, waiting for a better offer, unwilling to accept any amount of hard work or graft to make something worthwhile, never knowing if the woman you’re dating was about to get a better offer too
But there’s also a risk involved in choosing 1 person
What if the one you choose to pursue isn’t The One?!!
Well, tough luck, I guess
That’s all part of the sacrifice; you sacrifice certainty too. I guess that’s why so few are willing to take that chance.
But if you do summon the courage to ignore the Many, the likelihood of finding the One is increased may times over