Nothing can be gained without giving something up first. It’s a concept that I’m sure we’re all familiar with, even if sometimes we don’t always like to admit the truth of it. We spend our day at work and give up our time in order to earn a living; friends and coworkers come and go, leaving a temporary hole behind; life demands financial commitments in exchange for material necessities and luxuries. The cycle of giving of oneself never seems to end.
Whether it’s our time, people in our lives, or even finances, it seems like the universe is always asking us to give up something of relative value in order to get something back.
And really, that’s okay.
We dedicate ourselves to both careers as well as hobbies in order to develop ourselves further, trading valuable time in exchange for personal and societal betterment. When loved ones leave us, whether in the form of a friend moving away or even a family member passing away, new relationships and connections are on the horizon waiting to come in and help fill the void in our hearts; financial burdens are oftentimes investments in our futures, paving the way for a new and improved quality of life just around the corner; new and exciting opportunities continually arising, like the turning pages of the chapters in a book.
Life doesn’t make such demands because it is cruel and unfair – no matter how much we’d like to believe so or how much it may seem that way sometimes. Rather, it is give us a chance to grow, to develop, to overcome. Use such occasions to reflect. You might just find that what at first seems like a demand to give something up is really a chance to simply turn what you already have into something new and better.
