Forty Day Magic Challenge — Sacrifice One Thing

28Aug
by Lori Ann Lothian

Day 4: Giving Up to Get

What does sacrifice have to do with anything? Aren’t we here to have fun?

sacriiceposterWell, yes. And sacrifice will just increase the fun because at the heart of it, when we surrender or offer up one thing for something greater, the trade-off is always in our benefit. This is not about giving up something for nothing—but it’s about making a pact with your soul to suspend a certain activity, habit, or pattern that brings you a temporary pleasure for the opportunity to receive a more lasting form of joy—the magic of your own being.

The Latin roots of the word sacrifice literally mean sacred and to perform or to do. So we are doing a sacred act when we willingly give up something in order to receive something even better.

For my Forty Days of Magic, I have given up one of my favorite pleasures—wine. (Or any form of alcohol). I am not doing this because I’m an addict or because of my health is a problem, I am doing this because wine is truly one of my most cherished pleasures—and so I am offering it up for this experiment to potentize the outcomes.

Okay, so share your sacrifice in the comments if you want. Some ideas for sacrifice: Any substance you crave, especially if it might not serve you; any activity you know is really distraction — TV, compulsive web browsing, Facebook (eeks, that one’s hard — but I did it once for 30 days). You can surrender a habit —biting your nails, yelling at your children, avoiding the yoga mat. It’s up to you. Just choose one thing you are willing to live without for 35 more days.

I suggest too, you create a ritual for your sacrifice (and of course write it down in your journal). A candle lit daily is a simple way to remind yourself that this is a sacred action of letting go willingly—not some sort of arbitrary punishment or hardship I’ve created for you.

Sacrifice is optional. But know that your magical outcomes are likely to be less potent as a result.

PS: Please share with us on our private FB group HERE.

PPS: And if you prefer to get these daily assignments directly to your email box, just click here.

Lori Ann2

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15 thoughts on “Forty Day Magic Challenge — Sacrifice One Thing”

  1. Desiree

    I will sacrifice my habit of taking in more information: reading books on leadership, personal development, entrepreneurial habits. Fuck that shit. That acquiring of new knowledge is bringing me nothing but beating around the bush. Thank you for your beautiful challenge! X

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  2. Lori Ann Lothian

    Perhaps there is a deeper sacrifice being asked of you here? Not the habits of the body but of the mind. Can you offer up one mental habit? Worry? Anxiousness? Perfectionism? When you offer this kind of thing up it’s a whole different ballgame. You might not be able to be nearly as thorough as you would with not eating meat. But the impact of being willing to surrender a mental repeat button is a Normas. It requires Grace to even begin that journey

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      1. Vincent

        Thank you, Lori. This is so weird. Before posting I was already struggling with my obsessive mental habits and you even nailed them on the head (if you’ll excuse the pun)! I will attempt to sacrifice perfectionism as it is a mature clot that has severely clogged the flow of joy in my life. Also weird is that I am actually starting to notice the synchronicity thing which up to this point I honestly thought of as hocus-pocus. Things are happening fast, though. I will stay in touch, but not via Facebook as I sacrificed that six years ago already. Hahaha! 😛

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  3. Vincent

    I am not sure what I will choose to sacrifice as I have already been sacrificing so much over the last two years. I stopped drinking, stopped smoking, stopped eating meat and am simply consuming less than half what I used to. Eating once or twice a day in general and I sometimes just fast. Started yoga and meditation a year ago. Been obsessively studying anything occult or spiritual and I’m always thinking about being. I turned 34 today (the 11th) and the older I get the less I am satisfied by things that used to make me happy. Functioning in society is becoming progressively more challenging since it feels as if most other people are somehow unconscious of something important I am trying to find, yet I need to fit in and have a job. It often hurts. There is a lot of good too, though. In certain ways I feel blessed. I would love to sacrifice my need for things to be as I want them to be and just accept what is. Thank you for writing your blog. Love and peace to all.

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  4. Fefe

    Loved the syncronicity of your message arriving first thing in the morning and then after a day of magic I hop into bed at the close of the day with a new book I am reading and I am staring at the page that is also talking to me about sacrifice in the name of something much greater.
    Sugar and cutting back on coffee, this is my sacrifice as my body is going thorough a reset, a deep yearning to connect to my natural rhythm and being in the flow of spirit.
    I have had a profound shift after just 2 days!!!!
    I am loving sharing this magical journey, THANKYOU Lori….

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  5. nadieachak

    I’ll sacrifice sleeping in and get up one hour earlier to get on the treadmill. Back 2012 I had a near-death/all organs shutting down. Over the past three years developed several organ/brain complications caused by the sepsis (blood infection). Poor eating habits (love various cuisines) became worse and gained weight the last three years,, which affected my newly diagnosed diabetes last year. Exercise is not forte; in fact, I hate it. However, at the age of sixty-eight, I must now begin eating more nutritionally and exercising. I have already begun eating the right foods/amounts.

    Therefore, I will sacrifice sleeping that extra hour in the morning and get on my treadmill every day as instructed by my cardiologist. One mile a day will do it, so here it goes.

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    2. Carol

      Feeling. As odd as it sounds so many of my current issues stem from feeling. How I feel. How they feel. How I or they should feel. What they did to make me feel this way. What I did to make then feel that way. Misunderstandings, misinterpretation and misuse of feelings. I give. I give up feeling sad or mad or happy or joyful or disappointed for 35 days.

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  6. Christine Lynch

    I am, at the advanced age of 61, FINALLY giving up the idea of being “in love” – that is, the narrow focus on a single being in exchange, hopefully, for a MUCH MORE expansive heart….

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    1. Lori Ann Lothian

      You might be surprised. When we give up a dream or hope from the old grasping the very thing we wished to experience rushes in. It’s our clenched desire that stems from lack that is the dam in the river of our greatest good. Keep us posted please m! And welcome to journey.

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  7. John Lamenzo

    …I am now, as of today, drinking my morning jo black, not for 35 days, but forever….it’s taken me 60 days to finally use up a pint of superb New Mexico honey…but black it shall be!

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