Sacrifice

In today’s world it is not as difficult as it used to be for the average person to attain a moderately comfortable life. While comfort is a perspectival matter, I believe we are able to generally accept that for each individual a specific state of living can be pointed to in which that person would agree that they are comfortable when it comes to living arrangements, styles, and so forth. I bid to you that the idea of living in comfort doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve accomplished all you’d have liked to in life. Would you agree? If this is the case, could a life of comfort become a binding vine to our ankle?

Life is extremely complex, needless to say. To put the complexity of life in its entirety into some perspective in the game of chess alone there are said to be 35^80 moves that can be made. Each game is even likely to evolve into a game that has never been played before. What an astounding order of complexity and it can be found within just one extremely tiny portion of life. Can you imagine the possibilities that life might hold for each person? If one settles for comfort over pursuit of their dreams that number of possibilities topples to a resound and bold one.

There are of course numerous reasons why one might settle for simply what comfortable life they’ve attained but this is not what we are focused on. Here we are focused on those that may be fearful of moving from comfort into less desirable situations so that they can then grow in a way that was not possible before. We can see for ourselves the power of this kind of sacrifice through many different life examples. They exist in the game of chess, in pruning a plant, and even in ancient Chinese tea tradition.

Within the game of chess it is sometimes necessary and beneficial to make sacrifice of another piece on the board so that you may align the most perfect strike in honor of the piece that fell in the name of such an advancement. The benefits to this are clear and can be a catalyst toward your victory. We prune plants so that energy in the organism may be diverted to produce larger and more sufficiently developed pieces. As a result we can reap the rewards of bigger fruits and more beautiful blooms. The pieces to the puzzle of sacrifice do not end here.

We can travel all the way back to the imperial Song dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted all the way to 1279. The Chinese during this time and well before were great appreciators of tea. Tea pets are believed to have been created during the Song dynasty. They’re used in traditional Chinese tea brewing to symbolize the magic of sacrifice. They pour the first infusion of their brew over these clay figurines to remove impurities within the tea and to invoke to properties associated with whatever mythological creature or being the clay being takes the form of. Over time a beautiful patina shines through on the figurine.

The Chinese believe strongly in sacrifice but they’re not the only ones, this belief has been around for ages and even today we believe in the sacrifice of our wealth for the ‘magic’ experience of the effects on our minds. We feel good when we give to others. The principle of sacrifice is well understood and through coming to know such a principle we are more easily able to give up the pieces of our lives where and when necessary to embark on new and interesting journeys to sometimes better and more pleasing experiences in the short time we’ve got here.

Thank you for reading. I wish for you success, growth, and wisdom. Take care friend!