Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & a conversation on sacrifice...

"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." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I recently posted on a facebook page called "Simple Ideas That Can Change The World" the following;

"Make a selfless sacrifice, large or small for friends, family or strangers everyday".

I was then challenged to explain why sacrifice is necessary. Below is the conversation that followed:
I choose to leave these words without names for now. I am attaching a link for the sake of giving credit where credit is due.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_175035972535614

"What does a sacrifice achieve?"

"sacrifice... Reminds us to think about others, how we are all connected, and what a difference we can make in the world"

"Oh I understand. Wouldn't it be easier to just keep that in mind? Or do something good for someone else every day? I don't see how sacrifice ties in.."

"sacrifice and doing something good for someone else aren't always synonyms, however they can be. whether it's letting someone else take a seat on the bus though you could have taken it yourself, or perhaps NOT buying alcohol this weekend in order to save money to buy a birthday present for your great aunt Thelma...either way, you can sacrifice and do good, be it a physical action or your own mental attitude, it all counts."

"Oh I mean I see how sacrifice can be good. Don't get me wrong. But idk, wouldn't just do something nice work?"

"Doing something nice is nice... but many people stop themselves from doing anything nice unless it will benefit them, or as long as they don't have to give up anything, such as their time. Plenty of people have good hearts and want to help. By making a choice to put someone else's need(s) in front of our own desires, we can begin to realize what is truly important in life."

Today people have been posting MLK quotes to remember the difficult, but necessary contribution King made in an effort to create a more just, equal and peaceful world for ALL people. A couple of these fit well with the above conversation.

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity"-MLK

Your thoughts?