Notes From The Awareness: 334

What we think of as sacrifice is merely change.

Please discuss. How does this play out in life?

I’ll start us out. We all make personal sacrifices now and then. We forgo a favorite food to lose weight, cut discretionary spending to fund something important, cede to another’s preference to support a relationship, put a career on hold to focus on family. It can be difficult; we’d rather not do it. But we let what we want or need go in favor of a higher priority.

Part of the pain is that we don’t really want to give up what we’re surrendering. While we go along with the decision, part of us resists. This turns a conscious choice into a denial of our need/wishes. Rather than perceiving the alteration as tactical, we experience it as sacrificial, tainting the end goal.

Today’s message asks me to avoid the victim role when I give up something to attain a more important end. The decision is just a transaction—swapping one thing for another. If the tradeoff feels too hard, I can elect not to make it. But if I choose to give something up, I need to be all in. Resistance after the fact is pointless. I make my decisions with open eyes and can choose to live comfortably with their results.

How about you? Do you tend to regret your decisions?