Hi again, to those who like to have something positive to chew on as they move through our world. In this blog update I’ve been thinking about the sacrifices we all make for love. Father’s sacrifice their time and their salaries to support their growing families. Mom sacrifice their figure, their health at times, their time, their interests and unfortunately, in some cases, even their identity when they decided to have children. Let’s hope we can all help them not go to those lengths of sacrifice and keep a more balanced approach. Friends sacrifice time to take an ill friend to the hospital or to bring them food and comfort items. Children are taught to put off immediate pleasure for later gains, which to them can feel like an immediate sacrifice. And of course, on Easter weekend the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross comes readily to mind.

For those not of the Christian background, soldiers who fought for a better country sacrificed for love of country, ancestors who endured many hardships and loss of loved ones to keep their families safe, people who choose careers that change the future without necessarily enriching their immediate circumstance… the lists go on.

So is all of the above not just “giving”?

Good question. Giving does not automatically require sacrifice. You can give without taking something away from yourself. However true sacrifice means losing something for the plan of creating something better down the road. Better does not always happen, however more often than not, it does! I was reminded of this while listening to a podcast on smarter design systems for future energy infrastructures. A specialist in bees talked about how hives work as a community to produce larger amounts of honey. It’s worth a listen on Renewable Rides by Veckta. It’s focusing on healthcare yet branches in several directions to discuss Smarter Systems.

So as we go into our next week, let’s think about how we function on a daily basis to help humanity move in positive and healthy directions and not just about ourselves. We might all end up doing better in the world we create.