Posted Monday at 11:30 PM1 day … I want to sacrifice for something… Something true. Something that feels real. Something that helps me affirm that all of this nonsense I’m forcing myself to comply with, just because the world I live in today makes it seem important, is actually completely unnecessary. No, not just unnecessary… But…threatening to the thing that calls me. It’s something old. Ancestral. Something that demands answers. Something more than just transactions and work and fitting in. Something that doesn’t feel like a searing, heavy chain holding down a lively, fantastical soul. … Here’s the thing about sacrifice though: It doesn’t play for any team. It exists regardless of what we want, and even more so when we act. And I think that’s something we don’t understand when we’re trying to choose. There is no such thing as no sacrifice. The flaw of any human brain that dreams, is that it convinces us, we convince ourselves, that we can have it all. And even if we get the “all”, wealth, the job, the vacations, the partner and two kids…we had to sacrifice to get these too. In process, we have to sacrifice time, indulgence, money, our own ego, our rest, our time with friends, our hobbies. We have to sacrifice all other paths, even when we decide, with complete unapologetic satisfaction, in what we want. … So, what’s the lesson? What question must we answer? I think, it’s that we must fall fully into one path. It’s unavoidable. We must gather the few most important things to us and give every part of our being to them. Or else, the worst thing that could come from a life happens: Mediocrity. Because we can’t choose to give up having every option. Can you really imagine FOMO being the thing that steals your life? When we can’t choose to sacrifice, we sacrifice all the amazing experiences we can’t even see that lie on the chosen path. Things that would take steps in directions we didn’t expect that would lead us to the unfathomable. When we can’t choose to sacrifice, we lose our growth, our strength, our social attractiveness, our lust for life. And we end up cycling ourselves into a fear that makes us feel like someone we can’t stand to be, and without even knowing why. We find ourselves as the indecisive, the dull and unattractive, the bitter. The body and mind used as pawn with no power but forward, flailing movement through mortality, waiting for time or enemy to end us. … So, what do we do? Trusting ourselves to be our greatest ally. Trusting and executing on the sacrificial fires. Burning off the parts of us that have never fit. And more importantly, bringing everything we love into our lives that we fear, because only the exposure can prove to us what is real for us, and what is false and burn-worthy. Finding out what we would do anything for and sacrifice all other things for, and not talking ourselves out of it. And if it’s right… If it truly is for you, and not something to make you just feel important or to do right by others, the release of all other things should feel like freedom. Maybe not at first. Opinions of you might change. Others may be confused, hurt, or aggressive toward you. But what matters more? Filling your life with intentional direction? Or a constant anxiousness about which path to choose and never choosing because of what you might lose? WHEN YOU CHOOSE ONE LIFE, ALL OTHERS MUST DIE. Truth and Love, Reader. If you like my writing and the things I question, you might(I mean…probably) also like my newsletter. If not, you can still get all my stories here on Medium! Substack is where you can subscribe to my newsletter and get not just my medium stories, but chat with me directly, have access to all of my content in one place, and have access to The Art of Questioning audio. Only at https://zackaryhenson.substack.com There are so many great stories on Medium! If you want to have access to some of the best writing by thousands of creators, start your membership with the link below, which will also support my writing. Remember…question everything! https://zackaryhenson.medium.com/subscribe — This post was previously published on medium.com. Love relationships? We promise to have a good one with your inbox. Subcribe to get 3x weekly dating and relationship advice. Did you know? We have 8 publications on Medium. Join us there! Hello, Love (relationships) Change Becomes You (Advice) A Parent is Born (Parenting) Equality Includes You (Social Justice) Greener Together (Environment) Shelter Me (Wellness) Modern Identities (Gender, etc.) Co-Existence (World) *** – Photo credit: Ryan Carpenter On Unsplash The post What Should We Sacrifice? appeared first on The Good Men Project. View the full article
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