Is it a Sacrifice? Or an Investment?

“The cause of most of man’s unhappiness

is sacrificing what he wants now

for what he wants most.”

Gordon B Hinkley

I once read an article that said those that are willing to postpone satisfaction are significantly more successful in the long term than those that want immediate satisfaction. I 100% believe it.

Because, if you are willing to let something steep and get ripe before you have to have it, your reward is going to be sweeter, it's going to be richer, it is going to mean more to you than just snatching up a reward like the plastic gadgets you won with tickets at the arcade. Those toys were shit, and everyone knew it.

On the other hand, if you saved up 5,000,000 tickets, you could get something sick like a Simpsons skateboard just for being a Skeeball guru. I was never patient enough to get the skateboard, but over the years, I probably accumulated 1508 Chinese handcuffs and 326 of those slimy little hands that I could whip at my brothers.

Only in my maturity do I understand this:

Sacrificing what you want TODAY

is not a sacrifice AT ALL...

it is an INVESTMENT

in what you want TOMORROW.

Two children loved cherries, so they were both given 10 cherries. The first child was elated, and he ate his 10 cherries and was happy- savoring every bite. The second child was elated, too! He ate 1 cherry and savored every bite. The other 9 he buried and nursed into large, beautiful, bustling cherry trees. The second child now has a lifetime full of cherries. The first child doesn't. He sacrificed what he wanted most (a lifetime of cherries) for what he wanted now (that sweet, summertime goodness).

That diet is not sacrificing calories today, that diet is an investment in tomorrow's body. Skipping that cigarette is not today's sacrifice, it's an investment in tomorrow's health. Not buying that those Yeezys that you want is not a sacrafice, it's an investment in your financial security so that you can have the funds to take care of an emergency tomorrow.

You will need health tomorrow, you will need money tomorrow, you will need a body tomorrow, if you awaken. Why not prepare for that today?

I had to have that realization myself today. As I write this, we are in the midst of a pandemic the likes of which most of the planet has never seen. Today marks 42 days that I've been home, with extremely limited social interactions and my life as I knew it lingering in uncertainty. The government is trying to ease pains, but the lacks of infrastructure and preparedness are glaring. The unemployment benefits that should be keeping me mentally sound have yet to arrive. That Daddy Warbucks stimulus check has yet to hit my pockets, although many saw theirs 3 weeks ago. The walls are inching toward me.

And, in all of my hustling to get the government whatever proof they need to send ya girl some cash, I had to remember that I'm not sacrificing today- I'm investing tomorrow. See, I am owed the money. The papers will get filed. This, too, shall pass. And when the check for all of these back weeks get filed, I will have a nest egg that I probably wouldn't have had if I had gotten each week at its appropriate time. Why? Because I would've inevitably convinced myself that spending two or three hundred bucks here or there would be just fine!

So, I took a deep breath and realized that I am not sacrificing. I am not loosing anything. I just want now what I want now. But if I invest in tomorrow, if I practice patience and let the money build, I'll be able to get that dope ass Simpsons skateboard that I never had the discipline to get when I was a child. I'll have a field or cherry trees.

And all it ultimately took was a perspective shift, a change in the way I viewed the situation. Once I realized how stupid that check is going to be once it hits... well, I eased right on up after that! The situation hadn't changed a bit- just the way I was seeing it. By pivoting my attention away from 'what I can't have today' to 'what I'll be able to have tomorrow', I was able to change my energy around the situation. I went from frustrated and irritable to excited and joyful. And couldn't we all use a little more joy in our lives?

Make investments, not sacrifices. I hope that mindset shift helps someone. Love and light, y'all. 🤗❤