"You can have anything you want in life, if you will sacrifice everything else for it."
I admit it. I've been watching Grey's Anatomy. In my defense, I was trying to watch ER, because I felt like looking at George Clooney for a few seasons, but I misremembered which show was which. Wait, is that not a very good defense? Damn...
Most of the opening and closing narrations I find self-important and not very insightful. However, I've learned a really great phrase from one of the openers:
"You can have anything you want in life, if you will sacrifice everything else for it."
It might be a Robert Anthony quote. But I wasn't sure.
This phrase so perfectly encapsulates an idea I struggle to communicate on a regular basis. It's nearly impossible to have it all. The student often sacrifices financial stability to go to university. The landowner sacrifices the ease of renting to own property. The counterculture expressive sacrifices the social benefits of conformity. The working parent sacrifices the upbringing of his or her children, and the stay-at-home sacrifices economic comfort.
No person values all things equally – nor should we. But we should accept the consequences of the choices we make to pursue our goals. If our priorities are important enough to us and our resolve strong, we won't begrudge others theirs, their successes, or their judgement of us.
Be cool, and follow the NAP