Today we consider the 9th so-called 'Law of the Universe' - The Law of Sacrifice.
The Law of Sacrifice states that for everything you want, you must be willing to pay the price.
Now some people think this is losing something, or offering something to a deity in order to appease it.
This is the definition that people tend to use by mistake. It was the definition that the philosopher Ayn Rand pointed out many a time, for instance;
Ayn Rand
"Man - every man - is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; he must work for his rational self-interest, with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life."
(Ayn Rand (2011). “Ayn Rand Novel Collection”, p.2419, Penguin)
Thus, the Law of Sacrifice is NOT trading a higher value for a lower value. In other words do not trade your happiness unless you are trying to get ecstasy!
To apply 'The Law' (which Raymond Hollywell defined as 'God working within our lives') is to learn to let go of a lower value to obtain a higher value.
However, to get what we want, we need to exercise discipline.
We need to appreciate that there is a price to pay for what we want, accept it joyfully and pursue it with patient persistence.
Indeed, being disciplined is the ability to give ourselves a command and follow it.
If you find that you are having difficulty getting what you want, consider what disciplines you are NOT following!
Consider great musicians and artists - they trade free time and other values for supremacy at their art, practicing their art for hours and hours per day. They exercise the highest discipline in their chosen art and the least discipline in everything else, hence the 'struggling artist' meme.
Both Mozart and Beethoven struggled financially but produced music that has not only stood the test of time, but which is regarded as some of the most sublime ever written. What was important to them was they were able to express themselves, which is usually an artist's highest value. But financially, they were both unable to be disciplined to ensure a family life (Mozart was perpetually broke and Beethoven never even married)
Having said all the above, sacrifice does not always entail substituting pleasure for pain.
Sacrifice simply means delaying your gratification to get what you want.
You may remember a previous blog post 'How to be a Master Persister' where we met 'The One Mallow Kid'
The people who have the greatest trouble getting what they want in life is those who were the 1 Mallow Kid. They want it now, not in the future. They cannot discipline themselves.
To finish up, consider a new project you want to do, or something you want to get.
Consider the value of completing that project and compare it with the values that will be subordinated in its completion.
The test is: if you are willing to subordinate those lower values, you most likely will succeed at your project. Otherwise you will fail.
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