Sacrifices

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is today, but the partying has been going on for quite awhile in Cajun country and surrounding areas. It’s a time for merriment and indulgence with a chance to let it all out (if you know what I mean) before the Lenten season begins. It’s the feast before the famine, the debauchery before the piety, the last hurrah before the six-week sacrifice of doing without.

Which brings me to today’s topic: sacrifice. What kinds of sacrifices do you make, or have you made? Below are some examples with pictures and quotes to get you thinking. Maybe you can relate to one of them.

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Have you made sacrifices for your children/family, perhaps passed up on extra clothes or eating out so you could go on a nice vacation?

“Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.”   --J.M Barrie, Peter Pan

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Perhaps with your writing?

“If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.” -- Charles Bukowski, Factotum

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Or, the possibility of your life?

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” -- Martin Luther King Jr.

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Love?

“I guess that’s just part of loving people: You have to give things up. Sometimes you even have to give them up.”-- Lauren Oliver, Delirium

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In marriage?

“Nobody knows you as well as your spouse. And that means no one will be quicker to recognize a change when you deliberately start sacrificing your wants and wishes to make sure his or her needs are met. ” -- Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare

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There are many more sacrifices to be shared... by YOU. Hopefully this helped your creative juices begin to flow. I can't wait to see what you come up with! Make sure to link up your poem and visit others who have done the same. I thank you so much for welcoming me here at Poetry Jam with such loving kindness.

~Laurie K.

{Photos are mine, and quotes came from GoodReads}