“Replace sacrifice with compromise”

Do you know someone whose life is not ideal simply because they have and continue to sacrifice too many things in their life for the happiness of others? Many failed relationships are a result of one person sacrificing so much that they have lost their identity, no longer feel relevant, and/or are visibly unhappy. Sacrifice is defined as the act of giving up or losing something of value for the sake of something else. You can sacrifice your time, your hobbies or interests, your career goals, your money, your lifestyle, or your family to name a few in order to appease someone else with the goal to make them happy. The cost of sacrificing so much can be devastating to say the least.

Instead of sacrificing things in our lives we should make use of compromise, so we do not give up too much. The core of compromise is “give-and-take” where each side gets part of what they want, but not all of it. If you have an activity or hobby that you enjoyed doing often when you were not in a relationship and now your partner is concerned that this is cutting into your relationship quality time what should you do? Instead of giving it up completely, you can offer to do it less times per week so you can dedicate time to your relationship. If you like to shop and your partner wants you to stop shopping to instead pay for a vacation, then agree to shop less and set aside money to help pay for a vacation. What about career aspirations, one person should not give up on their goals but instead can agree to pause their goals temporarily until their partner is done with their immediate goal. From there each person can continue to alternate achieving their goals so both are growing. Family time can be a significant part of one’s life especially if you have a large or dependent family. You should not sacrifice your family relationships for your relationship but instead balance your time and resources between both. Compromise is a win-win approach to ensure that each person is not sacrificing too much and has balance in their life