“Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.”
― Mitch Albom, 'The Five People You Meet In Heaven'
It is safe to say that every single person on this planet has spent some amount of time comparing who they feel they are with who they aspire to be.
When we observe our own patterns of behavior, thoughts, intentions, and actions, it becomes incredibly easy to be viciously judgmental of ourself. But who we are and how we act are choices that we each make every day we are alive.
If you are unhappy with who you are and wish to become a new and improved version of yourself, you are going to have to become determined to achieve your goals no matter what sacrifices are necessary.
Think about the fact that you can not spell “determination” without “termination”. When you are determined to live in a new way, or to be “better” than you feel you currently are, then naturally some things that you are currently doing will need to be terminated in order to get what you want. You will have to sacrifice the idea of who you were in order to make the space within your mind to do the necessary work to become who you wish to be.
It sounds simple, right? But how often do you get caught in the vicious loop of self-judgment, paralyzing your actionable will in the process? Judgement in all forms is something we each came to Earth to learn how to let go of, and self-judgement is the most challenging to grapple with.
You and only you can identify what holds you back from becoming what you aspire to be, and only you can sacrifice those behaviors, ways of thinking, and actions that you feel are holding you back.
OR, you could spend your time in judgmental loops doing the mental gymnastics necessary to attempt to convince yourself that you are “fine”, that “everything is ok”, and that you “do not need to do anything about this”. But those loops always seem to lead to feelings of suffering, do they not?
Imagine you have just purchased beautiful property in the mountains. The view is majestic, yet the house on your new property has seen better days and you would like to build a fancy new one in its place. The first thing that must be done when it comes time to do the work building your new house is to demolish the old one.
The old house stands in the way of the new house, and the new house can not be built in its place until the old has been destroyed. You might use some of the old materials to build the new house, and those experienced materials add weathered character to the new one.
Compare that example to anything in life, and you will find that it is always the same. When we want something new in our life, we must remove something old that is getting in the way, holding us back from attaining what we want.
If you want to build a new business or work on a new project, you will have to sacrifice some of your entertainment time.
If you want to improve your behavior, you must sacrifice the things you are doing that you know do not serve you.
If you want to lose weight, you are going to have to sacrifice some of the foods you indulge in that you know are making you fat.
…And the list goes on in various ways for each of us, based on how we are currently living.
The Human Spirit’s desire is to rise. The low points we experience in life serve as benchmarks in which to rise from and to compare the great heights we climb to. Without the low points in life, we would not have enough perspective to embody gratitude for the highs, and for the totality of the experience itself.
When we learn how to sacrifice our own self-judgement, it becomes much easier to identify what needs to be dismantled in order to build anew. Only through non-judgmental eyes can we properly see ourself and act accordingly. Judgmental eyes steer us into loops where we spin until the suffering is so great we can not help but break free.
Only you can break the loop to dismantle the old. And only you can then build the new world you want to live in. This is the great opportunity available to you at all times, and the person you want to be who lives the life you want to live is eagerly waiting for you to slip their shoes on.
The question is, are you first willing to say goodbye to your old shoes?
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This week we are practicing our ability to let go of that which does not serve us. Are we spending too much time streaming video entertainment while not getting all of our work done? Are we kicking the can down the road on something important and feeling the drag it creates on our spirt? Are we just simply being lazy and not taking the action we know is necessary to build the new life we want to live?
Whatever it is we are dealing with that we know needs attention, this week we will give ourself that attention, and we will begin the process of doing the work we know needs to be done in order to alleviate the anxious suffering that the old thought loops create.
Have an amazing week, my readers, and let us know in the comments how you are doing in your quest for greatness.
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If you are asking yourself, “Who the f&#@ is this guy and why am I sitting here reading what he has to say”, then start here at #1.
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Until next week - loving you deeply
—hue-man
PS - Happy Birthday, B. I love you forever.
In order to become who you want to be, you will have to sacrifice who you were