A Worthy Sacrifice
By Ingrid Muñoz
Love and care go hand in hand, you can't have one without the other. I've heard people claim that love always requires sacrifice. Whether it is given up consciously or unconsciously, genuinely or woefully, a sacrifice must be made in order to show someone love. So for example, if I know my sister's love language is quality time, I must sacrifice time I might've spent alone or with someone else in order to give her that quality time. Or if I know my father's love language is acts of service, especially in the form of delicious, homemade food, then I will have to sacrifice time and money to show him I love and care for him. If I know my friend's love language is words of affirmation, I may have to sacrifice self-pride to give her words I am not accustomed to saying out loud, to being vulnerable in a way that often scares me.
But none of the sacrifices I mentioned above make me less human. Unlike the sacrifices required (arguably extorted) from us by the monster, the sacrifices I might make in order to love and to care for my friends, my family, or even my sworn enemies, do not make me an accomplice of the monster. They do not make me a tool the monster can use to hurt others or to further its evil ploys.
Even if my loved ones fail to see the message - the care - I am giving them, my sacrifice is valid and finite. I can never get the same time or money back, no matter how hard I may wish and try to. Even if the person I am choosing to show love to - to care for - rejects said love, it does not nullify the effort or the sacrifice I made. If anything, I have simply remained human.
And that is one way in which the monster does not win against me.