Well, another one that starts with questions. Good luck guys.
How often do you sacrifice?
Yeah, kind of a loose ended one to start up with. But maybe I could run with a smoother one to start off…
What is your idea of sacrifice?
First born child? Left hand? 10 years of your memory? Eternal soul of your most loved of love ones to the infernal spawn known as Baephomet the Vile?
Yeah, those are sacrifices. Bu they are kind of the extreme version that tends to turn your life and the world (depending on if Baephomet has enslaved enough souls to invade our realm yet… Obviously) and it seems like huge decisions that don’t make much room for margin of error.
What about the day to day, moment to moment ones we make?
What’s that, Vince? You don’t make sacrifices on the daily?
Sorry dude, you really really do. We all do.
We make sacrifices from moment to moment based on what we do and don’t do in those moments. And often it’s the things we do in the moment sacrificing what we may otherwise experience in the future.
Don’t believe me yet? Lets start small then.
What did you have for breakfast?
Okay, thanks Chad. Left over pizza. Cool…
Well, that decision sacrificed an opportunity for Chad to eat something that may have done more for his energy over the course of his day, helped his hangover, looked after his gut biome and maybe left him feeling slightly less guilty about when his gym rat bro’s ask him how his swole diet is going.
But he did have the momentary pleasure of eating pizza again. Totally dude bro. And I’m told, in some circles, that cold pizza the next morning is actually better. Never been my experience, but then I’ve never had left over pizza the next day.
Anyone else want to share? Hilary? Thank you.
Bircher muesli with goats milk and organic kiwi and mango mixed in. Great.
Hilary just sacrificed an opportunity to leave herself in ketosis after overnight fasting which means that her fat oxidation is impaired, possible has slightly more brain fog due to less ketones crossing the blood brain barrier accordingly and therefore missing the eye rolls she gets when she brags to her co-workers about what she had for breakfast AGAIN today…
She did, however, get to feel like she’s started her day with an extremely positive meal that let her feel good about her day for its entirety. I mean, that does sound pretty good to me, even if I personally wouldn’t eat what she did.
And even in those two examples with a simple decision about food in the morning, theres a waaaaay wider array of positive and negative ways to view the outcome. But in either direction, they sacrificed the positivity of something they didn’t choose, while accepting the negative outcomes that go with the other.
And that comes down to picking and choosing what we want to prioritise about those decisions, but we need to appreciate that theres still sacrifices to all of the stuff we choose to act on.
My sacrifice for right now, while writing this, is not talking about dragon sharks fighting robot crocodiles with my son. So, don’t ever say I don’t give up much for you guys because, lets be honest here, that is a waaaay cooler conversation than pizza and bircher muesli trade-offs…
Anyway, back to my point.
My point?
My point…
Oh yeah, my point. My point about time. And what it means to us when we use it in certain ways.
Future me is going to have to deal with the consequences of what past and current me are spending time doing, right now. And now. And now. Aaannd now.
Sometimes future me is pretty happy about this. Sometimes… he is pissed. More happy than pissed lately, but it isn’t (or wasn’t) always so, and sometimes its hard to tell until stuff plays out to its fullest.
But the idea I’m suggesting is that at some point in your day, you will make a decision about what will actually make your future better rather than get you a dopamine hit right now. Ironically, doing something in this moment that is good for you future self gives you a serotonin hit, which can be even better than dopamine, but isn’t as addictive or fun, for that matter, at the time.
So, pick your sacrifice.
You want this moment to be feel awesome because that’s what matters? Well, sometimes that is good for you now AND good for you later. Like having that last donut that means you’ve eaten the whole box (which probably did feel great, but not anymore now you’ve eaten all of them…), but it now means you DON’T have any more for later, so you don’t have the moral quandary about deciding to eat one later or abstain. Win/Win right?
Yes, I am aware of the absurd level of mental justification gymnastics to reach that conclusion, but that is what some people do to placate themselves about sacrificing the future rather than make a tougher call right now in the moment.
So, as I always annoyingly do, I asked this question again.
What do you want?
Because weighing up what you actually prioritise and what actions that requires is where its at.
What are you prepared to sacrifice?
Taste, or health?
Fun, or heaven?
Moral high ground, or convenience?
Your partner, or sanity? (okay, that ones not nice or fair, but your see where I’m going with this...)
Now, or the future?
If you knowingly pick things that aren’t getting you the future you want… well, your wanted future is the sacrifice.
And all those little decisions that make up the momentum to get you to where that vaunted future self is most definitely do add up.
Not picking your nose in front of the boss? Probably means that all the hard work you’re doing on the Normandy account is less likely to be overlooked in preference to the overwhelming disgust the boss now has for you that keeps you from being promoted? See? Little things.
All those moments where you add more weight to the momentum you are building to get the bright shiny future you say you want, but haven’t backed up with actions in those moments until you decided that going to bed early tonight might mean you’re better prepared to write that blog post that might actually have some meaning and value to someone out there. Or something like that.
Pick your sacrifice. Because no matter what you decide, you’re giving up something. Maybe some more thought into exactly what you’re giving up might help with that.
Be kind, be smart, be your best you. No bar fights.
“Mental toughness is spartanism with qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication. It is fearlessness, and it is love.” Vince Lombardi
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