>_< Sacrifice

There's a lot to be said about those who sacrfice anything for others. In the most extreme case, usually one person sacrfices their own life to save another. Going down in levels you might find someone sacrificing a kidney, or another organ to save a life. These types of sacrifices are truly heroic in their own right. Although some of us may not have the courage to make such big sacrifices, it doesn't necessarily mean we're not as heroic. Sacrifice comes in various degrees of heroism. We don't have that many kidneys (or lives for that matter) to donate or give away. Many of us though take something we all have plenty of and sacrifice it when needed: time. I feel like time is one of the easiest things to sacrifice, especially if its worth it. In certain cases, it might mean just as much as a kidney. Now I'm probably not going to go incredibly emotional into this blog, however always keep some of the things I say in mind so that maybe we can all get something out of this. Maybe.

The reason why I decided to blog about sacrifice mainly lies in the events of this morning. A dear family member of mine had needed a ride to work, which required a wake up time for me an hour or so earlier (not counting the snooze button). It was a bit irritating getting woken up earlier than necessary. As I mumbled my way through a quick conversation I began thinking how pissed I was that I didn't any extra sleep. So as I lay in my bed I had thought of this thing we call sacrifice, and all the things this family member sacrificed for me for all those years was just running through my head. Now I had done this kind of thing before, dropping said member to work, many times. Though I realize that it doesn't really make up for the tings that were sacrificed for me in order to keep me happy. I think that to myself every time I had to wake up early to drop them off work. So I get up, hit the shower, got ready for work, took them to work, and went on with the rest of my day. It's a boring story, I know, but it meant a little more to me than it probably should've. That's probably why I'm deciding to type about it. I just want to ask a general question. What does sacrifice mean to you?

The best definition of sacrifice is this: “To forfeit something for something else considered to have a greater value.” (American Heritage Dictionary). Sacrifice does not mean giving up something for nothing; it means giving up one thing for something else we believe is worth more. This does not at all take away from the virtue of sacrificial acts. Instead of locating the merit of sacrifice in unselfishness, we can find it in a man’s chosen value system. The man who lays down his life for his family or for his comrades has chosen to place more value on their lives than on his own. What is more praiseworthy than that?

I didn't receive anything directly by getting up early and bringing them to work. But the greater value in this case is showing them that as family I still love them and am still willing to do these things, no matter how much it annoys me. That they can always count on me if they need anything.


The greatest gift of love is not what someone is willing to give, but what someone is willing to give up. True sacrifice.

ta ta kids