Be A Statue

“No man has greater love than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

We do not erect statues of men who have done nothing outside of monotony with their life. They are always tall bronze towers of figures whose reflection show an image of a person whose life was full of sacrifice – probably even dying for someone else. We won’t even give a trophy to someone who hasn’t put in at least some work.

“Here is your trophy for eating the most amount of chips while taking the least amount of breaths.”

“Whoa, this exists, and I won it?”

“No, go do something with your life.”

As a culture we suffer from a phobia of sacrifice, and it has nothing to do with dying. According to the Federal Reserve Statistic, the average household debt in 2014 is $15,607. At first glance this statistic doesn’t look like it has anything to do with sacrifice, but then we realize that staying out of debt means sacrificing time. If time is money, than the more time we spend saving our money the less debt we’d have. It’s a matter of sacrifice. Nobody can argue that it’s easier to buy a car with cash than it is to buy one on credit. If that were true than we wouldn’t have corny commercials telling us that our credit is “pre-approved.” The easy rode is the one paved by someone else’s sacrifices.

 According to the Journal of American Medicine 34.9% of Americans are obese. Losing weight is a matter of sacrificing instant gratification for lifelong health. But who has time for that when 5 bucks can buy you a carb-loaded footlong. 68.8% of Americans are at least overweight. This suggest that the majority of Americans choose sweets over sweats. Rather than do what works, like eating less junk and healthier foods, we have created a market of lose weight fast gimmicks. Everything from invasive surgery to over-caffeinated diet pills are forced in the face of would be dieters. Be honest, would you rather sweat for two hours in the blazing sun, or sit back with a sweet drink in one hand, a juicy burger in the other, and your favorite show on TV? That’s what I thought. The reward of salivary satisfaction has overcome the glory of sweat and health.

Heard enough?

Good. Anyone who was convicted of an inability to sacrifice has already quit reading. YOU, the person still scanning over these words, are not one of those people. The average household debt and obesity rates both correlate into an obvious conclusion - people fear sacrifice.  You find time to get on the internet and read blogs about health, fitness, and bettering yourself. Your interests span into the world of sacrificing. You give up instant gratification for long term success. Most importantly you know not to give into the weight of the world, because it's selfish. 

And selfish people don’t get their statues put up in parks.

Be a statue.