The Self-Sacrifice Challenge

Choices are a form of sacrifice.

By saying yes to one thing, we are saying no to another.

Every choice we make is a reflection of our values.

Never is this more evident than when we make a choice to forego something for someone else’s benefit.

Over the last two posts, I’ve invited you to think about who and what you feel responsible for, and who and what you are willing to protect. Both of these, at some point, require us to think about how far we’re willing to go to honor those commitments.

Today, I want to challenge you to think about what you are willing to give up.

Two Kinds of Sacrifice

When it comes to self-sacrifice, I tend to lump everything into one of two categories:

• Things that we need
• Things that we want

When we give up food, water, or shelter, we are giving up things that we need.

Needs are about safety and survival.

When we give up buying from a particular company or store, giving some of our disposable income to a worthy cause, or skipping the activity we wanted to do to spend time with family or friends, we are giving up things we want.

Wants are about comfort.

On occasion, the line between wants and needs can get fuzzy. But in general, I think this is a helpful way to think about things, as it provides some clarity about what is at risk.

Rising Costs

Unfortunately, there is another variable complicating matters: consequences

As wages stagnate and costs rise, every dollar we lose or give away becomes a bigger risk of consequences. When we have to choose between paying our rent or affording life-saving medication, what is a person supposed to do?

In a world where your right to protest is protected, attending a demonstration as a means of petitioning your government for change is a reasonable choice. When you could be permanently injured or even killed for your participation, the thought of joining becomes less reasonable.

The costs of sacrifice are currently rising.

Despite our ability to feed, clothe, and house our entire population many times over, we don’t. Instead, we are working harder to get by and being forced to play survival roulette, while seeing posts about mega-yachts on our social media feeds.

Despite our 1st amendment rights to protest and speech, we are seeing protesters pepper sprayed and taking “non-lethal” rounds to the face. Despite any of our rights, we are seeing people dragged from their cars and beaten, put on planes to somewhere and disappeared from existence.

Compounding Costs

If you look back on history, one thing is clear: right now is the easiest it will ever be to intervene.

Costs are going to continue rising. Consequences for dissent will be punished more heavily.

So instead of waiting until tomorrow to figure out what you’re willing to sacrifice, today is a good time to think about it.

• Are you willing to put your body on the line for those you love? What about your life?
• Are you willing to give a little more time or money to the organizations trying to fight and help?
• Are you willing to sacrifice the comforts you’ve taken for granted today, if it leads to a better tomorrow?
• Are you willing to join together with others to strengthen a resistance? Are you at the protest? Will you join the general strike?
• Are you willing to leave behind what you’ve accumulated in order to get those you love to relative safety somewhere else?

Today is the best day to challenge yourself. Here’s what to do next…

The Self-Sacrifice Challenge

First, make a list.

You may be in a position where you need to choose between your integrity and your safety.

Here are some trolley problems as examples:

• Would you give a Nazi salute and espouse hateful rhetoric if it allowed you to escape a dangerous situation with your family? Would you be able to sacrifice your integrity for the safety of your family?
• Would you steal food to feed your family? What’s the bigger risk: getting arrested or your family going hungry?
• Would you stay silent about injustice if speaking up meant losing your job and your ability to provide? What’s more important—your voice or your security?

There are no right answers here. The point is to know where you stand before you’re forced to decide under pressure.

Knowing what you value more than anything else helps when you are forced to make a difficult choice. The responsibility and protection challenges from the past two weeks can help here.

Write a list of the who and what matter most to you. Don’t forget to include yourself, food, water, and shelter.

Second, prioritize the list.

Look at your list of people, causes, and values. What if you had to choose between them?

Rank your list in order of priority. The top of the list should be your needs from most important to less important. The bottom of the list are all of your wants and comforts.

When push comes to shove and you can’t do everything, this list helps you see what you will sacrifice for first.

Third, make one small sacrifice this week.

Pick something from the bottom of your “wants” list—something that feels meaningful but not catastrophic:

• Give up that streaming service and donate the money to an organization fighting for something you believe in
• Skip the thing you were looking forward to and volunteer your time instead
• Buy from a different company that aligns with your values, even if it’s less convenient or costs more
• Say no to a comfortable evening at home and show up to a community meeting or mutual aid event

Start building the muscle now, while the costs are still relatively low.

The hard truth is that the time to figure out what you’re willing to sacrifice is before you’re forced to make the choice under pressure. And the time to start practicing sacrifice is before the consequences become unbearable.

Self-sacrifice often happens without warning. One of the most heroic things we can do is be prepared for it.

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