The True Meaning of Sacrifice by Darlene Beck Jacobson

 In keeping with the theme this month of what we sacrifice to find time for writing, I am reminded by recent articles of the importance of words and their true meanings.

The OXFORD Dictionary defines sacrifice as: NOUN: an act of slaughtering an animal or person, or surrendering a possession as an offering to God or to a divine or supernatural figure. VERB: offer or kill as a religious sacrifice. To die in order to help someone else. (Soldiers do this all the time. So do organ donors.)

Biblically sacrifice means: "giving to the Lord whatever He requires of our time, our earthly possessions, and our energies to further his work." This can be extended to personally giving up something you want to do for a greater good or the good of others (giving a sick day to a colleague who needs it more than you, even when you have already planned for that non-office day)

An unselfish giving over.

What are we sacrificing every time we put pen to paper to find time to write?  

Are we being UNSELFISH when we choose writing over other things? 

Are we contributing to a greater good by leaving something important behind in the form of our stories?

I leave it to you to answer these existential questions. I personally think SACRIFICE is too strong and potent a word to use for finding time to write. Can anyone offer me a better one?