Sacrifice
Source: Vlastula at flickr
“Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.” – Les Brown
“Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal.” – Elbert Hubbard
“Nothing worth having comes without sacrifice.” – Unknown
One of the reasons most people are content to work 40 hours a week with 2 weeks of vacations a year is that it’s easy. As long as you make a respectible income and can afford to pay the house and the car, you can just keep doing that week after week, month after month, for 40 years. And at some point down the road, you can safely retire on your $1,000 a month pension as long as you don’t expect to live too extravigantly.
But what if you choose instead to live life a bit differently. Instead of living in a bigger house with a newer car, you live in a more comfortable but smaller place. You hang on to your car until it becomes unreasonable and then pick up a good quality used one. You live your life by making sacrifices, so that you can take 2 months a YEAR off of work. Or so that you can take a WHOLE YEAR off for a life-affirming trip around the world. You give up the a few joys from today so that you can truly live life later.
I may have learned this lesson myself a bit late. I wish I could sit my 20 year old self down and have a long serious talk about things. But it’s not too late. It’s never too late. I’ve woken up, I have a goal, I’m willing to make sacrifices, and I’m willing to do what it takes to succeed.
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