Not All Sacrifices Are Worth Making.

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It's a known theme of life that nothing great happens without there being a level of sacrifice behind it. If we look throughout the history of major events that have occurred before and during our lifetime, people have always made great sacrifices in order for the greater good. Most of us in our own lives have had to make various sacrifices throughout our lives. Sometimes the sacrifices that we make are to our benefit, and there are others where we do it for the benefit of other people. I believe that we have to seek to have a healthy balance when it comes to making sacrifices. I look at it as being similar to the "give and take" approach when it comes to life. You have to be strive to be a person that has an equal level of give and take. It's never good to be too far either way when it comes to giving and taking. Now while I'm a person that believes that making various sacrifices is an honorable thing to do, I also believe that we sometimes make sacrifices that we know will have a bad outcome for us. It's almost like going into a battle that you're not entirely prepared for. There is a big difference between being brave and being irresponsible when it comes to making sacrifices. This is one of the reasons why I have come to realize that despite the act of making sacrifices being an honorable thing to do, not all sacrifices are worth making.

Hello once again everyone! This is Brad H. reporting once again, and I would like to welcome you all to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I am back once again to bring my perspective on a topic that I think would be helpful in keeping us moving forward in our lives. I hope that you all have been staying safe during this global crisis that we're in. Keeping with the theme of the Covid-19 pandemic that we're currently in, I'm going to use my soapbox to address the importance of listening to what the actual experts say in regards to this pandemic. In the last topic that I covered, I talked about how we shouldn't be so quick to think that everything is back to normal just because governors are opening states back up. Well I watched a video a couple of days ago where a nurse from the state of Georgia was telling what her experience has been like daily when she goes to work. She talked of how appalled she was that the governor of her state had reopened the state so quickly, and she urged people to continue to stay home so her job wouldn't be even more difficult that it already is. I bring this up to say that we should be paying more attention to what actual healthcare professionals say instead of what politicians are saying. Always be mindful that the nurses and doctors are more interested in saving lives, while politicians are more concerned with being elected. As I mentioned in the last topic, don't be so quick to think everything is back to normal because governors are opening up states. Continue to do what is best for you and your family regardless of what politicians urge. I also want to give a big shout out to all the nurses out there. Thank you all for all you do to care for others. Well that's it for my soapbox, so lets get into this week's topic of why not all sacrifices are worth making.

Before I get more into this week's topic of why sacrifices should be carefully thought about, I want to begin by saying that there will probably be quite a few of you that may disagree with me on this topic. I totally get why, and if that happens to be the case, I definitely understand. I just hope that the perspective that I bring on this topic is one that makes sense. I also want to point out the obvious, which is that as with the majority of the topics that I talk about on here, this subject is one that is purely subjective. Now I mentioned earlier how sacrifice is a theme of life if you would call it that. Sacrifice from others has always been needed when it comes to benefiting the greater good. Now when we talk about the topic of sacrifice, there many different layers that it entails. Like I mentioned earlier, many people sacrifice for other people to the point where the person that makes the sacrifices doesn't see any benefits from it. Then we have the sacrifices that we as people make in our individual lives on a daily basis. I'm of the mindset that the personal sacrifices that we make for ourselves are the ones that should take precedence in our lives. Now with saying that, I'm not implying that we shouldn't sacrifice for others, but as I mentioned earlier, there should be a healthy balance of give and take.

Now there are many of us right now that have and are currently making sacrifices for the sake of others. Again, I don't believe there is nothing wrong with making sacrifices for others, but what are the reasons as to why we're doing so is the question at hand. Are we doing it because we genuinely care and want to help others, or are we making them in hopes of receiving something later on down the road? The reasons as to why we do certain things definitely do matter, and it is no different when it comes to making sacrifices. Now from my perspective, the thing with making sacrifices is that they often have dire consequences that follow them. Sure there are going to be sacrifices that aren't as serious and have no long term bearing on our lives. When we think of sacrifices that are not worth making, we don't typically associate that with something that is less serious. When we think of this way of thinking in regards to sacrifices, we think of things that can potentially be a detriment to our lives. One of the biggest examples that I can think of now is this current pandemic that we're currently in. Whether you believe the Coronavirus to be a serious threat in general isn't all that important. The thing to keep in mind is how willing are people to sacrifice themselves when it comes their life and the potential downsides of the virus.

Now continuing with the virus, my goal here isn't to deter anyone when it comes to whether or not the threat if truly real. Some people have various ideas on if the virus is truly real or not, and that's okay. People are entitled to have their own opinions and that is fine. I happen to be one of those people that thinks this is major crisis that has had deadly consequences, which means that I'm on the side or erring with caution when it comes to the virus. My objective with this week's topic is simply to bring awareness to the fact that not all sacrifices are worth making. I personally feel that there is no shame, nor does it make you less of an honorable person if you know when something is beyond you. I call that being smart and having self awareness. The same logic applies when it comes to dealing with people. We're always going to sacrifice for others, but there are going to be some occasions where it is okay for you to say no to others. As I brought up earlier, the reasons behind why we do things are what matter the most. I believe that the thing to be mindful is that sacrifices are just like anything else in your life that requires evaluation. We have to think about the reasons why we make sacrifices, and then we have to weigh when they're worth making, and when they are not.

That is pretty much all that I have to contribute to this topic of why I believe that all sacrifices are worth making. I hope that I was able to convey this message in a way that was understandable for you. I'd also like to thank you all once again for stopping by for another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! If any of you have anything that you'd like to contribute to this topic, please feel free to do so in the comment section. You can also hit me up on Twitter at the handle @BradrickH. Well I hope you all have a happy Mother's Day weekend. I know that with the way things are going right now that it's hard to see the bright side of life at times. We just have to do what we can to get through this. I'll see you all on the next topic. Stay safe, and peace out!

©2020 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Maintaining Discipline Requires Sacrifice, But It's Worth It.

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Most of us know by now that there are always pros and cons that come along with the decisions that we make. With nearly every choice that we make in our live regardless of how much it may benefit us, there will always be some kind of sacrifice that comes along with it. If you look at or study anyone that has achieved a significant amount of success at something they're good at, most of them mention the amount of sacrifice that was required on their part to reach their peak. I believe that this also applies when it comes to maintaining discipline in our lives as well. We all hear or have heard about the importance of being disciplined in life, but how many of us really know what discipline is? By definition, discipline is defined as being able to "train oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way." There are other definitions and meanings as well, however for the sake of the point that I will be discussing this week, I'm going to stick to the aforementioned definition since I think it aligns more with this week's topic. The ability for one to trains themselves to have discipline is certain aspects of life can be constant challenge, and it's a journey that isn't for the faint of heart. There is an often extreme level of sacrifice and time required to maintain discipline, but the work and effort put towards it will be worth it in the end.

Hey, what's good my folks out there? It is I Brad H. back once again, and I'd like to welcome everyone to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! A big thanks goes to everyone that stopped by to tune in once again to what I have to say for another week. Hope everyone has been staying strong, maintaining, and keep things positive in your world since the last post. In the previous post before this one, I had mentioned that I had an upcoming birthday. It's been nearly a week since it past, and I must say that I had a great birthday this year. I mentioned earlier that I'm not one to get super enthusiastic about my birthday, but I must admit that my family truly went out of their way to make the day special for me. I'm truly grateful for them, as well as being able to live and see another year on this Earth. In a time where so many are dying young, it is a blessing to us all being able to inhale and exhale daily. Another thing I briefly talked about was the 5K that took place earlier this month back on the 4th. This is the annual Kinsel Ford 5K that I've been doing since 2012. I always try to participate in this yearly race since it always falls near my birthday. This year's event was another success. I moved into another age group since first running in it, and I finished 10th in the men for my group this year. That was a pleasant surprise since I really didn't push it too hard this year. The most important thing was to have fun. Well I've talked enough for me for now, so it's time to delve more into this week's topic of maintaining discipline.

As I normally do with any of the topics that I talk about on here, I want to point out that a person's individual viewpoints will always differ from person to person. The idea with this topic and the rest isn't to focus too much on what is right or wrong, but rather to encourage others to view certain topics in a light they may not have considered before. I'm not saying that my viewpoint is right, nor am I implying that the way I see things is the correct way of looking at life. I'm just an everyday average guy hoping to inspire myself and others. If anyone has any comments or feedback on this or any other topic that I've talked about, please feel free to leave them in the comment box. Now for some insight on how this week's topic came to be. Normally I can point to a life experience or someone that I'm close to as to how I came to talk about a specific topic. That happens to not be the case this week. This week's topic on maintaining discipline is just something that came to my mind out of the blue, and I figured that it would be something that could maybe inspire those that struggle with maintaining discipline. As I've stated before in past posts, my eyes and ears are closest to me so anything that I write about here applies to myself as well. The art of maintaining discipline can be a tough habit to maintain, but doing it consistently can definitely help in improving our lives for the better.

So now that we've established what entails having discipline, I think it is necessary to talk about why having discipline in our lives is so important. From my perspective, the task of practicing discipline daily helps greatly in strengthening our minds and organizing our lives. An individual that disciplines him or herself consistently practices routines that increases their potential to improve their life daily. Like I mentioned earlier, most people that are skilled at something often have developed and maintained a level of discipline that has helped make them successful in whatever their particular craft may be. There is a saying that goes "repetition is the mother of skill." I believe that saying totally coincides with being a disciplined individual. Think about boxers that have had success in the sport of boxing. I'm sure that none of those guys woke up instantly skilled at their craft. Like every other athlete or person that has achieved greatness, it took daily trips to the gym and working with their trainers in order to become skilled at boxing. In order to get to that point, strict discipline is required. But as I stated earlier, with every pro that comes in life, there will always be a con that comes along with it. Being a disciplined individual is truly great, but it does come with a lot of sacrifice.

Now making sacrifices may not be hard for some people. However, I think that most of us struggle with sometimes having to give up certain things in order to become better at something. For example, lets say that you're a person that is trying to lose weight and become healthier, but you also loves eating sweets. You already know that in order to become a more healthier person, you're going to have to either give up on or cut back on eating sweets. This is a prime example of being willing to sacrifice in order to get to a better place. This is exactly where the being worth it aspect comes into play. There can often be a great deal of discomfort and even pain sometimes when it comes to making sacrifices, however, any sacrifice that a person is willing to make that makes their life better is worth it. From my perspective, most of us look at the sum of all the parts rather than the individual parts that lead to something greater. Many of us focus too much on what we're losing when we make sacrifices rather than what could be gained from them. It's kinda like the glass half full of empty mentality; we direct too much energy towards the things we don't have instead of appreciating the things we do. In some ways, discipline and sacrifice go hand in had with this.

Now I'm sure that many of you that may be reading this have no problem with maintaining discipline in your lives. If that's the case for you, then I truly applaud and commend you for that. For others that may struggle with being disciplined in various aspects of life, I want you to know that you are not alone. I classify myself as a fairly disciplined person, but I do have lapses when I fall into bad habits. If that is something that you can identify with, it's totally okay. We are all human and fall short at times. The biggest point that I want to get across in this week's post is the importance of recognizing the benefits of practicing discipline. If you are looking to better yourself in certain aspects of your life, my suggestion would be to take that step and really push it. Just be aware that there will be a sacrifice that is required whenever you're striving to become more disciplined. The sacrifices that are required may be your time, certain pleasure or indulgences that you enjoy, and even relationships with others. Be cognizant of that before you take on the task of being more disciplined. Keeping with the theme of boxing that I referenced to earlier, I'm going to leave this week's topic with a quote from legendary boxer Mike Tyson that deals with being disciplined. The quote goes; "Discipline is going in there and doing something that you don't wanna do, but you do it like you love it."

Well we've arrived at the end of this week topic folks. I wanna give thanks to everyone that stopped by for another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! As always, my wish is that there was some meaning and understanding that could be gained from this topic, as well as the rest of the topics that I've talked about. If anyone has any comments or feedback on this or any other topics, please feel free to drop them in the comment box. Well depending on where you live, it is beginning to get warmer so try to get outdoors this weekend and enjoy the weather. Summer will be right around the corner, and we all know how brutal it can get during those months. Go ahead and enjoy before it gets here. Alright I'm out for this time folks, so until next time, I wish you all peace, wellness, and positive thoughts. See you all in the next one.

©2017 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.