The ultimate sacrifice – Sounds like a title of the latest blockbuster. Nevertheless, it is everything but. It has nothing to do with fiction and everything to do with reality. We all live by making sacrifices, or compromises, whatever you wish to call them. And what better time to recall them than on Easter Day.
Making a sacrifice has very official, dignified sound to it. However, the act itself is very down to earth, sometimes even everyday thing to do. Sacrifice is often perceived as an extreme compromise. The one where you are prepared to willingly give it all up or at least – give more than you expect to receive. Do you think this is an objective view of sacrificing?
What we know today is that love is the driving force behind almost all great deeds. And money, of course, but we will ignore that practical aspect for the sake of this text. So, we sacrifice for love or out of love. Sacrifice comes with the actual giving and losing. It entails the act of giving up of something that we actually possess in reality without the possibility of getting it ever back. Above all, we do it for someone else‘s benefit. Simultaneously, “giving it up” is done with pure altruism or the thought that the very act of sacrificing will bring some good to the object of our love. Hence, the great emotional load which is often connected with sacrificing.
Alternatively, compromising entails the concept of giving up of something in order to attain something else. So, the gain is inevitable. If we take a look at the compromise and sacrifice in this respect, we could say that sacrifice is emotionally justified, while compromise is based on reason.
Nowadays, people in relationships make compromises more often than sacrifices. Opposite to sacrifices, compromises should be mutual, and as such – predictable. They can make our lives easier and affect things to run smoothly. We know what we bargain for, so to speak. And most importantly, it leaves space for both sides to delegate the acts and expectations evenly. There should not be heavy lifting by one person in a relationship. However, the question remains: Is there true love without sacrifice? Most of the contemporary philosophers and psychologists agree that a healthy relationship between either two parties: partners, parents and children, friends, etc., should involve both compromise and sacrifice.
The ultimate sacrifice is rarely needed or achieved. Nevertheless, it would be good to ask ourselves what we would do in a situation that demands it. What would be the force to propel us to make such sacrifice? Would you do it for money?
I did not think so.