Hey everyone, I apologize for not getting one of these in sooner. I have had a busy week and unfortunately it has taken me away from my passion. By passion I mean surfing the web and deciding what topic I should focus on. I also use T.V. and good friends to stimulate my intricate blog posts that have had you so riveted. I am kidding of course, I doubt I write anything that keeps you all on the edge of your seats. If I do I am honored and humbled....and if you aren't sure what that looks like. Picture a Duke basketball player slapping the court and beating his chest, because he knew he was going to dominate your mind with amazing food for thought!
Speaking of food, I have several friends going through their 40-days of Lent. Of course not being Catholic myself, I only realized this on Ash Wednesday. Outside of not eating meat and substituting it with Fish on Friday, many also opt to give up their most sinful indulgences. Now I go through Ramadan once a year and I totally understand the idea and the benefit of such a spiritual time. Although I understand its importance I still enjoy the perspectives of those who live it, hearing it from my friends gives it more relavance.
As my friends typically do, I received an email from a friend laying out plans for what sounded like an awesome weekend. Just in case you wanted to know how to plan an excellent weekend do the following gentleman:
1. Cook Italian Food on a Friday Night and watch College Basketball and Hockey
2. Wake up late Saturday discuss in depth topics like bust size during brunch at your local Dennys
3. Watch more Basketball
4. Grill Meat
5. Hit the town and make a fool of yourself by dancing to a Myley Cyrus Song.
6. Fit in a Vampire movie starring Leslie Nielsen or Snoop Dogg
Anyway, the author of this amazing email mentioned how he was being proactive and avoiding doing certain things. I remembered that he was a devout Catholic who was trying to honor his promises to God and exhibit constraint and sacrifice. I chatted him up a bit and came to the conclusion that his journey to personal growth was in many ways rooted to the sacrifices he was able to make for his own good.
Recently I haven't been a stranger to sacrificing things in my life. I gave up all drinks that have caffeine or sugar. Now if you have read earlier posts or know me personally, you know this is a large undertaking. I am happy to say I have been this way for two weeks now, but this is a sizeable change in my life. It is as if there was a sugar and caffeine ruler, dictating all the things my body did and was bringing it down to its lowest physical state. For the first week, my body revolted against this cruel unjust dietary dictator. It struggled through fits of low energy and a headache or two. In the end the body and soul was freed with minimal casualties. Clearly all Arabs are revolting against one thing or the other, and I was feeling a bit left out. Sacrificing this large section of my Food Pyramid has been a tough task but I am looking forward to the future. Feeling better everyday and instead of craving a Monster or a coffee, I prefer some Water with a little Crystal Light. I have never been this hydrated in my life, I think I restored the balance of my body. 70% water, 30% mass and 100% where amazing happens (just like the NBA).
So with all this proactive sacrifice going on, my main message is this: You can always stand to give up something small in order to better your life or another.
We all have seen documentaries and news segments highlighting people who have had to make sacrifices as well as those who have chosen to do so in order to help themselves or others. I think it is an excellent lesson to learn. We live in the age of A.D.D. and we already give up on everything very quickly. Well that being said, what we should focus on is how we can make sacrifices proactively to improve situations. This can look like a lot of different things, you can give up a fattening food that you don't need in your diet. You can use the 5 dollars you will spend on something silly and donate it to an important cause. Even still you can give up some of your own personal time to make another persons feel special. In our lifetime there are opportunities to make decisions that can effect us positively later. In many cases it is deciding what we will be sacrificing.
Now I am no lovey dovey hippie, I have a business degree. I see practicality and I know that your Total Revenue- Total Cost = Total Profit. There is always going to be a cost, but if you can manage your costs properly and effectively you can yield a higher profit. Yes this may seem childishly simple, but in reality it is simple for you to make small sacrifices that can boost you and others every day. I urge you to make those sacrifices so that you continue to succeed and grow. I also hope that you take the opportunity to make a small sacrifice for the sake of others. Who knows, your 5 dollar bill may help people more than you can imagine, the time you spend being a mentor can help a kid realize their ambitions, or even lose a few pounds not eating that donut in the morning!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment