An interview at ESPN a few months ago, involving an intense quiz on everything I know about sports from football to NASCAR, has recently gotten me thinking about baseball seriously again. It’s not because the Red Sox have been losing more than I hoped or because the customers at my restaurant are really disappointed that they haven’t been able to frequently utilize the “Red Sox Win, Kids Eat Free” deal this season. One of my questions in the ESPN interview was: “What is a suicide squeeze.” I clumsily described it, almost correctly, as a sacrifice.
When I rehashed my sudden inarticulacy after the interview and determined the actual answers, I understood what a big deal a sacrifice is in baseball. The batter risks being tagged out themselves so that a teammate can score. All ego is put aside for the greater cause, even if the third place runner still is on the batter’s team.
Actually, sacrifice is a big part of most sports. You prioritize the game, your fitness, and your health above anything else. While training dominates your time, in the end, it is all worth it because you hopefully achieve your prime and work together with a team to improve upon your record. So, if the ESPN producer, had asked me about a sacrifice in baseball and I had described how I sacrificed my free time to become a high school soccer and track champion, I would have sounded ditzy and uninformed, but technically I would have been correct. There is sacrifice in every athletic element.
Sacrifice also exists in your life. There are also many types of sacrifice.
The most common form of sacrifice is sacrifice for others. You put others before yourself and make a decision based on what is good for the community. When your mom asks you to clean the toilet, you do it even though, let’s be honest, no one is passionate about cleaning a toilet (and if you are, I’ll hire you, but you should probably reconsider your goals in life). When a friends asks you a favor, you do everything in your power to lend a hand. When a project is behind a deadline, you stay later to work on it to help out your team, even if it means missing dinner with your family. Today, I went to a panel discussion about the importance of a social enterprise, incorporating philanthropy into every business model. While there was skepticism about the feasibility in a capitalist environment, most people agreed that they want to make a difference and help other people to whatever extent they can without incurring debt in their businesses. Relationships are a part of life and a part of business, so it is important to keep community values in mind in everything you do.
However, there will come times when you cannot help someone who asks you to do so, for whatever reason, and that’s when other people have to sacrifice themselves for you. Maybe your long-distance boyfriend wants you to move to be with him, but your job requires that you stay here. Maybe your boss wants you to stay over-hours everyday. Or maybe a company wants you to work for them, but only if you do so for free, regardless of long hours. There comes a point when you need to stand up for your own values and what is best for you. While you may feel guilty to say no to someone in need or someone you care about, you have to be able to judge what is best for you and when personal sacrifice is too much.
Sometimes sacrifice is internal. I recently turned down an offer to teach abroad in Spain, even though I would have loved to travel again, because I couldn’t afford it and I was offered a job here. Someone told me that sometimes you have to abandon what you want to do and face the reality that you need money to make a living, so you should move to where the jobs are, even if you don’t necessarily want to be in that place. Wanting to do something isn’t always enough. There are practical components in consideration. And just because you turn down an offer today, doesn’t mean that you will turn down your opportunities for the future. Something similar could reappear, and when the timing’s right, you can follow through.
I have had a lot of discussions lately with friends who are frustrated because they know what they want to do, but they are stuck in a dead end job until they can get hired. I think this image is really cliche and that everyone should be able to find something they like to do if they have enough drive, but the truth is that it’s cliche because it is a very frequent occurrence, especially in this job market. While it is unrealistic to chase your dreams forever, if it just isn’t working, many young people are wondering how long they should give it before they give up. One of my friends works in a family business and dreams of pursuing his aptitude for art and animation. After a couple years of internships, he’s frustrated and considering staying with the family business permanently. While he may be unhappy with that decision, he would be making the sacrifice to have financial security rather than pursue what he’s passionate about. That is a practical form of personal sacrifice.
On the flip side, if my friend chooses to pursue art and animation, that is a more romanticized form of personal sacrifice. Should you wait until you have enough money to move to a city where your desired job is most lucrative? Some people I know have done that and lived out of cars or tents for awhile. If you’re a musician, you move to Nashville, not Alaska, right? If you’re a writer or an actor, you move to New York or L.A., though arguably, you can write anywhere.
When you pursue your passion, you may abandon the practical to follow your heart. The second path has no financial security, however, it brings more happiness, theoretically, since you are able to do what you love. The money is still a concern, but it doesn’t worry you as much. You’re following your passion and nothing can ruin that, whether you’re rich or poor. You risk getting into debt and having enough to support yourself, however, that is another sacrifice. Many artists struggle before they make a career out of their talent. Even when you establish yourself as an artist, there’s no guarantee that you’ll make a lot of money. So, your risk can be very valuable if you succeed, but what if you fail? Do you simply quit, or give it another go around?
Neither form of personal sacrifice is better than the other. It really depends on what’s best for you and what the circumstances are in a given situation.
There is a lot of risk in your job search. Let’s say you get two offers at once. Which one do you take? Either way can be a sacrifice in some regard, but you just have to make the most educated decision that you can and follow through on it.
In baseball, when a batter bunts a sacrifice, they don’t stop and wonder about if they should have done that. Then neither them nor their teammate will score. They bunt and then run without looking back. Maybe they’ll make it to base, maybe they won’t, but at least they’ll have tried with good intentions.
So, in your life and in your job search, recognize that you are always going to have to make sacrifices. However, as soon as you make one, remember never to look back and to run as fast as you can forward. The worst that can happen is that you’ll get tagged out. Even so, you’ll have more than one chance to bat and at some point or another, you’ll have your chance to hit a homer.
