Sacrifice

It seems weird to be working with two deities, half the time I feel insane, but talking to others in the same boat makes me feel more sane about the whole thing. But working with them and reading posts has reminded me about something vital - sacrifice. This has two connecting ideas in it for me.

I used to think of sacrifice in probably a more romantic way. I think of it one way in a noble manner of saving a life, or dedicating your life towards some cause. The other is probably the "dark" way or something, the evil way, heh. It's the idea that to take someone's place you have to destroy them. Think of say, a friend has the job you want, and you use dirty tactics to get them out of the way to get the job you want.

Sacrifice can be that, but it can also be something closer to home. Let's take a real world situation, one in which many face, getting healthy. The first question to be answered is what needs to be changed to get healthy? People think about it, claim they will do it for new year's resolutions but never do. If you love cookies and soda, it means giving up those. But to get healthy you have to do more than just give up certain junk foods. It is also about weekly exercise. This is where sacrifice comes in. Instead of doing the inactive things you love to do, like surfing the web, reading books, you have to spend time exercising. It's a sacrifice of time and energy.

I feel like I can safely say it is right up there with requiring discipline. It's a mental conflict for some. For me it is hard to be disciplined with this sacrifice I am making to get healthy, to run, to exercise. This is where one of the most well known quotes from Yoda comes through to me, "Do or do not." I am not saying accomplish something beyond your means right now, I cannot run a 5k. However I am taking steps to run a 5k. That takes sacrifice and discipline.

To pursue improvement in all things is a constant test of discipline and what you are willing to sacrifice to attain it.

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As I said above I'm doing a thing from start to 5k. I don't do it every day, but I'm going to start up. It's a challenge, one in which I hope to overcome and maybe one day even do a run. It's party of my promise to get healthy.

I've also been writing and creating artwork. So now I'm needing to find discipline and a midpoint from between exercising, making dinner to bring to work, doing art, and doing the other activities that I love most. I'm also doing a lot of research. I don't always win out on the 'friction' this all creates, and it's being an interesting experience. But I'm really thriving and growing into myself.

How much can a panda bear [strike]bare[/strike]!? I sacrifice for my passions, and as a result I might become them in some way - but I think they are both the same thing your two sacrifices, as when sacrificing something external to myself for my passion I might still be losing something inside of me.... depending on the circumstances.

The human body is interesting, and I think 5k is achievable. I have a treadmill but rarely get above 2, so good luck and rest well!!!

Many people create their own hells. They have some awful job in an awful city so they can earn enough money to take a vacation away from their job and their city. Try to make a life for yourself that you don't have to get away from. Why do you need to run 5k? What's the real reason?

As for food, I've started growing my own and I've found that the stuff in grocery stores isn't good food. Oranges that taste like cardboard... nasty eggs... no nutrition, no flavor... so they have to add MSG to everything and loads of salt... Yes I pay $3 for a dozen eggs. Anyway, once you've tasted good food you get addicted naturally. If you just buy whatever mister corpseration puts on the shelves then you probably think fresh food tastes like ass... grapes are sour... strawberries are sour... carrots taste like wood... etc

Whyte Horse wrote: people create their own hells.

Regardless of the reason, this is truth...

Nice avatar... love 'the dude'...

Sacrifice is essential to life. Nothing becomes something else until it goes through the process of losing what it is. Change implies sacrifice. I think the sacrifice you might be talking about, however, is a conscious sacrifice as opposed to say, sacrificing your health in order to enjoy a sedentary life style. When people say "I want to spend my life...." I don't think they understand how literal that phrase really is...or in the end how little the things they focused on really amount too. My father used to say you have to tell yourself what to do, or life will do it for you. Many people sacrifice more then they realize for the luxury of not thinking for themselves or acting on the insight they may gain.

It ofter seems doing the right thing involves sacrifice and discipline. It's almost always harder too.

That's life.

It’s not always easy to do the right thing, but it is always right!


So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
James 4:17 ESV /

The sacrifice which causes sorrow to the doer of the sacrifice is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy.
Buddha

I don't need to run a 5k, but I would like to be capable of it. It's a matter of health and breathing. I take it a day at a time. I don't run every day, but running, exercising, and dancing (besides eating healthy) is a slow friction? conflict? In getting to a healthy weight. I don't look overweight, but my joints feel it. I want to do it for my joints so when I am older, I'm not cringing in pain trying to correct years of malnutrition and not exercising.

But the fact is, for me, to get to where I want to be there is a "cost." It means less time doing the inactive things I love, like reading (which isn't bad per se) or gaming (which while a relaxer is definitely not healthy when you would willingly focus for 6+ hours). I've stopped gaming, one fight over. Maybe one day I'll pick it up when I have better discipline to NOT hyperfocus. I have the ability to hyperfocus and set everything aside but for the one thing I'm doing.

Sacrifice is like a cost factor or price, but it is not like karma, and it certainly is not equivalent exchange. It builds up over time. It's like that smoking poster I saw once, for how long it takes for your body to get back to normal.

Well it sounds like you have a goal that is like some kind of personal achievement. That's actually a noble thing. I was one of the top runners in the US Army and I went to the track 3 times per week to get there. It took about a year. I started slow and I was a fat piggy boy with bitch-tits. I walked one block the first day... eventually I worked my way up to running one block... then on to 2 blocks, 3 blocks, etc. Before long I was running a mile every day and loving it. It probably didn't help that I was smoking a pack a day too but that's another issue.

A few suggestions: stretch BEFORE AND AFTER you run for the first few months... eat right... time your breathing to your steps so you don't get cramps... avoid eating/drinking before running so you don't get cramps

Well, you have just motivated me to go to bed, and try to get what sleep I can so that I can do my legs and back routine tomorrow afternoon without being too tired!