Deep, abiding love requires sacrifice.  One has to be ready to sacrifice to truly love another person.  If a person isn’t at least willing to put oneself in another person’s shoes, that reveals the inability to truly begin to care about them.  When push comes to shove, a person can rise to the occasion and truly understand the role of sacrifice in a close relationship.  There is always a turning point, at which a person will understand what is required.  That is when it becomes clear.  That is when a person can realize how deeply their feelings go or don’t go.

Now, there are many levels of intimacy in any relationship.  The kinds of love vary from 3 to 12 depending on the source of this information.  There are 5 love languages according to many sources.  Love, in its amazing complexity, has different degrees of influence over our individual lives.  But the most important place that we can experience the need for sacrifice is in our families and with the friends with whom we share intimacy.

Some sacrifices can seem unimportant or trivial, but they can mean more than one might think.  Helping a stranger, paying it forward, giving to organizations that help other people, are all ways of making small sacrifices that show love for our fellow woman or man.  Sacrificing time, money or things for others is significant.  It makes our world a kinder place and kindness is a way of showing love.

Meaningful relationships have always held an important place in my heart.  And I believe that when we are willing to make appropriate sacrifices in each of those relationships, the value of those connections grows exponentially.  To me, relationships are everything.  And every time I have the opportunity to make some small sacrifice for another person, it enriches my life.  If one has never had the experience of this action or had someone make a sacrifice for oneself, this may be hard to understand.  But the fact remains that love requires sacrifice.