GMC News
Word of the Week: Sacrifice
Georgia Military College Prep School
Word of the Week: Sacrifice
Week of September 6 – September 12, 2015
Definition: the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.
Quotable Quotes:
“Living is strife and torment, disappointment and love and sacrifice, golden sunsets and black storms. I said that some time ago, and today I do not think I would add one word.”
– Laurence Olivier
“You aren't going to find anybody that's going to be successful without making a sacrifice and without perseverance.” – Lou Holtz
“It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The important thing is this: to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Let’s Get to the Point:
As the anniversary of 9/11 is upon us, it is easy to think of all the many sacrifices that have taken place by millions of Americans since that fateful day. There are number of veterans who work at GMC who know up close and personal what this trait means. Soldiers left home and died for our freedoms, or came home a wounded warrior to a grateful nation. Families worried and prayed for the safe return of their loved ones. Many were blessed with a safe tour of duty, but many sacrificed for the good of the mission.
Put Words into Actions:
We all do it and may not realize it until after the fact. Parents sacrifice more than their children will ever know until they too are parents. Being present at their child’s recitals or games or chauffeuring them around is well worth what they have to give up being there. I would hope that every one of us can remember a time that we looked out into the crowd and saw our loved one rooting us on and realize what they sacrificed to be there.
Think About It:
One can give in a number of ways to different activities they participate in. But until you are willing to sacrifice what is most important, like time or effort, then you have not sacrificed. When you give up your own personal time to help others, then you have truly
given your most important resource.
Reflection
Veronica Roth once conveyed the characteristics of sacrifice in the description of her heroine Tris, in her novel Allegiant, “She taught me all about real sacrifice. That it should be done from love… That it should be done from necessity, not without exhausting all other options. That it should be done for people who need your strength because they don't have enough of their own.” Each sacrifice, no matter how small is made out of a form of necessity. These are made daily whether it is as small as what someone should have for breakfast or as big as sacrificing one’s pride and declaring bankruptcy. They are often are completed for the love of others. A category of people whose sacrifices are taken for granted daily are parents.
Parents have been making sacrifices for their children throughout history. These sacrifices can range from changing their diet to be a healthier example to taking up a third job to be able to afford good schooling for their children. With a family of seven children, my mother has had to make countless hard sacrifices to benefit us. My mother has always worked her heart out at a job that she loves. Even on days she is off from work she is still working, whether that is giving her colleagues advice or teaching my little sisters how to read, she never stops. But with all the work she does she has never missed a play, baseball game, or activity her children are a part of. After raising her first two children while going through nursing school and continuously working she has never complained about all the choices she has made throughout her parental life. She has always told us, “find a job you love, work your heart out, and never give up” and that is what she does.
C/SFC Peyton Mims is a student at Georgia Military College Prep School
