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Sacrifice Without Guilt

Most, if not all of us have been the benefactors of sacrifice in our lives. Most of these sacrifices we're made well aware of, often used a tool to teach us some lessons on respect. What they really teach us is guilt. Whether it be how hard our parents worked or the money they spent, the word sacrifice is used to increase the value on something others would have done anyway. As is mostly the case, what they are really trying to tell us is they have spent money on us. Money, had we not been born, they would have used for their own enjoyment. We, as adults, pass this message on to our children, and as the song says, the circle will be unbroken. Just like death and taxes, parents will use their lives' work to bring guilt upon their children for the purpose of respect and some misconstrued lesson in sacrifice. But, is it?

I've found, the respect I've gained for others is when I see the sacrifices they take upon themselves, yet never mention. Whether it be to my benefit or the benefit of others, this guiltless sacrifice garners much more respect from me than the advertised variety. I do not view employment as a sacrifice. I view it as a necessary evil and I do not know many who have spent more on others than themselves. I do know those who have and the very term is emblazoned on their faces and bodies. We often degrade some of these types and call them out when they stick out their hand, never realizing just how little of what they ask for in assistance goes to them. This is a sacrifice many of us will never know. Sacrifice, where the giver feels the guilt is a heavy hand to be dealt and most I know, mock and deride those who take this burden, ironically calling themselves faithful to a religion based on a man who did the same and allowing them to live without guilt for their sins.

In the life that I have lived, I know the sacrifices people have made in my name, both the commonly reminded type and those which were never spoken of. I'm positive there are some I'll never know of and for those, I thank those who contributed to who I am today and for their help. I'd like to think I have done the same for others, even if it were simply my time. It's the one asset I seem to have been able to share the most. Whether or not it is a sacrifice, well, I'll leave that up to those who have received it. There is no guilt from me. I do wonder if those who have taken my time, unsolicited and unwarranted, realize I've stayed often, rarely walking away. I wish, in some sense, these few would feel guilt, but they also do not feel others' burdens are a sacrifice, as long as they are the beneficiaries. I'm well aware of these people and have tried to weed them out, avoid them, and in many cases end my association with them.

Sacrifice has a negative connotation. One must remember that, in general, those who sacrifice for us did so out of love, compassion, and respect. This is a sacrifice they'd do over and over again. Whether this sacrifice was accompanied by guilt or not deserves distinction, but that is between us and those who have given. It is up to us whether to carry on tradition or change it. Although, with guilt, often comes appreciation. It is a lesson many is lost on. This is not to say appreciation cannot be learned without guilt, as I think it is an innate personality trait, much like the appreciation of food for animals in nature. Entitlement is a learned behavior and often confused by, and even more so a form of projection, by those who use the term. Human beings, for all their achievement and power, often overlook that everything that they benefit from is often due to the sacrifice of others. In our daily lives, we take this for granted. Some may disagree, but did the food on your plate arrive there without the sacrifice? Whether it a plant or an animal, a life, in how we define it, ended for us. We've only been indoctrinated with the concept that we're entitled to this without guilt. Being aware of the sacrifice around you, without ever being reminded, is a gift. Being able to reciprocate, without guilt, is what I assume is enlightenment.

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