Sacrifice: A willingness to act for a greater purpose.
If the lives of a million people could be saved at the expense of your own, would you be willing to make the sacrifice? If not a million people, is any number that would justify you sacrificing life? How many of us are willing to sacrifice ourselves for another?
I asked this question on Quora.
As I contemplated this question myself, I realized it really depends WHO would be saved. For example, I am certain most parents would take the fall for a child. I'm not a parent, so the next closest thing I have to children are family & friends.
A friend of mine, who is very religious, would often ask others the uncomfortable question "What are you willing to die for?"
The answers on Quora reveal we all have a very different view of the world when it comes to our own mortality.
A member of our writing community recently passed away and I looked to her final words for some clues to the meaning of life. Then I looked at the last words of Steve Jobs.
When those in the military give their life, was it for their country or was it the country that they were deployed to protect? If the later, I have to wonder if they really signed up for this. What other employer, besides the government, has the right to put you in a life-threating position? I'd like to read the last words of those who died serving their country, but it's not likely that I ever will given the abrupt end to their life. You have time on a deathbed to write your last words.
If you asked them the question I did on Quora, they might reconsider the decision to serve in a capacity that might put them in harms way.
This is really a lesson in realizing the long term impact of a decision.
Life is an adventure, and I'd like to believe death is as well. If you define an adventure as a journey into the unknown, then death is most definitely an adventure.
To live a predictable life is not an adventure. As a self-proclaimed adventure seeking soul, I have to wonder if my greatest fear is to live a certain predictable future. In this way, looking back is certain since the past is permenant, looking forward uncertain, and impermanent. This moment is the only thing I am certain of.
An optimist is one who looks towards the future with hope. A pessimist looks towards the future with fear. Neither are right, but both influence our awareness.
I feel a heavy heart for all the Americans who were killed for battles that were never worth fighting. Decisions made in the face of fear can have dire consequences.
I recently made a list of the most important 150 people in my life (in a google sheet).
I would stand up and proclaim that if the lives of the 'top 150' people on my list would be saved, then I most certainly would be willing to die. If the 150 people closest to me were gone, I know my life would be empty.
What I hope this exercise does for you is make you realize that no sacrifice you can make while living, could measure up to the price you'd pay with your own life... and if you are willing to sacrifice your own life as I would, then all the tiny sacrifices your friends need you to make are pretty insignificant, aren't they? Don't think twice, your friends are worth it. When you're gone, it's the sacrifices you made on behalf of others that matter.
Much of our pursuit of wealth, fame, and personal achievement are selfish acts. It's only the extent to which others benefit that true happiness follows.
Self-Sacrifice: the extent one is willing to go for a purpose greater than oneself.
When the lives of those you love (and who love you) stand to be improved by your own sacrifice, it's also a sacrifice worth making. If the words you say will improve their life, then say them. If you are able to do it, then do it.
Think about the sacrifices other have made on your behalf. Would the balance sheet zero out? For those who've given you life, you are forever indebted because nothing you can do can ever measure up, or could it?
I pondered a BHAG to positively impact the lives of a million people in a significant way within 10 years.
This would be the debt repaid to parents who gave me life, and all the parents that led to my own existence. If you were to zoom out far enough, I'm certain it's a number far larger than you could ever imagine. Have you ever pondered your own existence? Think about the number of people who gave birth generation after generation, the obstacles they overcame, just to bring you the life you have now that most of us take for granted. In a way, they all conspired to bring you to this exact moment, making this moment quite significant indeed! Don't you think you owe them to live up to your potential?
I'm awe struck by the reality of how my wife is loved by so many and how so many who love her include me by default. I know this because they make up more than half my list of 150.