Patience and Sacrifice Equals Life.
If you watched a lot of Nollywood growing up, you'd probably guess the two popular figures that came to my mind when I wrote that line. They’re not even the context of this post, it was just a random thought. But since the prompt mentioned 'sacrifice', I suppose we could talk about it a little.
Sacrifices.
People always say it's what life is about. You know, taking risks, letting go of some things so you can get to your dream destination. And these things are not just random or irrelevant, they are things that might actually shake you up a little when you let them go, but you decide to do it anyway. I doubt it would be called sacrifice if you were so willing to let it go without feeling anything. So, in the theme of things I would sacrifice to be able to move forward, there may be a lot. However, there's always one or two that stand out, isn’t it?
When people talk about leaving your comfort zone, they actually know what they're saying. And as general human nature goes, nobody really loves stress. People can go on and on about the kind of ease they want and all their big dreams, but once the topic of working to get there comes up, you’ll see people slowly backing out. Comfort is sweet. It’s taking all the time and ease because you can. But in the end, it doesn't let you move forward, at least I know that now. Waking up every day and realizing I'm going to follow the exact same routine as yesterday and the day before gets boring at times.
And one of the tricky parts is that sometimes, you don’t even realize how comfortable you’ve gotten. Life doesn’t give bare minimum. It hits hard with everything it's got. So approaching it with the mindset of “Oh, I'm just going to take it slow and easy” is really not the move. If there’s one thing I’m more willing to let go of now, it would definitely be that comfort mindset of wanting to be at ease every time. Life requires a measure of self-discipline, a quality I've been trying to cultivate more. It takes real discipline to do things at the right time and not give way for procrastination to give you a head start on postponing everything, just because you can’t get yourself out of bed.
Another thing to let go of is distractions. They come in many forms, the internet being a major one. Spending so much time watching reels made me realize that someone is actually making money from the time I spend there. And at the end of the day, I’d feel this regret, wishing I used the time for more productive activities. Something I’ve been trying more often is to start my day with something useful, something that actually brings me a step closer to my goals. And even with that, I still find I have some time left to engage in the little things here and there.
Distractions are not just things; they could also be people. People who are draining you in the background, and you don’t even know it yet. Earlier this year, I had to let go of some people. I wouldn’t use the phrase “cut off,” but I slowly let go of every friendship that wasn’t impacting my life positively. And since then, you can't even imagine how peaceful it has gotten.
As long as life keeps going, there'll always be a need to throw off some weight that won't let us move forward. It will not be easy, but if it’s necessary, then it must be done.
