Memorial Day is a special time for specifically honoring military personnel who have died in service to the country. It is a day of remembrance for those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Veterans Day, on the other hand, is a day to thank and honor all living and deceased veterans for their service. Both days are vital for our remembrance as a healthy and honoring nation.
There can never, ever be success without sacrifice. The two go hand in hand. If your desire is to accomplish little, sacrifice little. But if you want to accomplish great things, you absolutely must be willing to sacrifice much. The equation will never work any other way.
Life is filled with trade-offs. That’s a given as well. But you can trade up for better only if you have something worthwhile to sacrifice
If you are currently enjoying something or benefiting from something that didn’t cost you anything, something for which you did not sacrifice, you can be 100% sure someone sacrificed. Someone before you paid a price so that you could benefit from it or enjoy it.
In your life, I am sure you can think of several people who made the right sacrifices at the appropriate times to help you become the person you are today: parents, teachers, friends, family. Thanking them helps you and them. Gratitude is beneficial for everyone. I encourage you to take time this week to thank those people for the sacrifices they made on your behalf. Make a phone call, send a text, write a card. A few sincere words will grow your heart bigger.
Even though gratitude is so vital and is critical for health, it’s in short supply most of the time. We live in a world of entitlement. Entitlement is composed of two beliefs: 1.) I am exempt from responsibility; and 2.) I am owed special treatment. These beliefs cause alienation and frustration and are ultimately destructive to the future of the entitled person, a team, family, and a nation. Our nation can only be healthy when we refuse entitlement and realize we are the beneficiaries of great sacrifice, and now is our time to be the ones who sacrifice for those who follow us.
Last weekend, America celebrated Memorial Day, a day of respect and honor. It is a day set aside to remember the men and women who gave their lives while serving in our armed forces. This day dates back to 1866, when the citizens of Waterloo, New York, gathered together to honor their sons and daughters who had died in the Civil War. One hundred years later in 1966 this day became an official U.S. holiday. Since then, for the last 59 years, this weekend has been part of our national mindset. I have great memories of the day – not just family picnics and cookouts, but many observances and prayers. My father was a grateful veteran (wounded in 11 places himself) who witnessed the ultimate sacrifice from many comrades. Every day of his life he remembered their sacrifice and prayed for their families. I remember our small communities had Memorial Day observances at the courthouses and Dad was a regular attender and frequent speaker. He loved the parades and always stood in grateful, respectful attention, hand over his heart or raised in salute as the symbol of our nation went by. In the last dozen years of his life, he spoke many times for school assemblies and events, telling how essential gratitude, sacrifice, and service are to us as individuals and nations.
I am grateful for all of the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. As a leader, I find their willingness to give themselves to the cause of freedom for all of us inspirational and motivational. I am challenged to step up my own commitment. I resonate with President Lincoln, who said it best: “From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.”
When we commit to ongoing sacrifice, when we live in respectful gratitude, they have not died in vain.