Perhaps you have already heard about a little Broadway phenomenon known as Hamilton? If not, you should check out the soundtrack. I am not big into hip-hop or r&b but this soundtrack, just WOW! The first time you listen to it you focus on how great the music is and then as you go back and listen to it over and over and listen to the stories. It is so well written and composed, but make no mistake, the success of Hamilton wasn’t overnight. It took Lin-Manuel Miranda six years and lots of sacrifices to finish it. In this article, Brody, a journalist for the WSJ shares Miranda’s trip to a Bronx Theatre High School where he shares a bit about what that sacrifice looks like.
Saying No to Your Friends
No doubt, this is hard. This is something I have had to do in just pursuing my degree. My time is spent working on project and papers. Some friends are understanding when you say no because they see you working towards a dream. Some friends have no desire to understand. To this, I ask, are they really being a friend if this is their attitude? The truth is some will resent your desire to change and others will resent the time it might take away from the friendship. This can honestly be the hardest sacrifice you make, but remembering that it is temporary and that the reward can be great should keep you pushing forward. It is important to remember, though, this is temporary. It is not a way of life. I truly believe it is also important to take a much-needed break to refresh and sometimes there are no better people to help you do that than friends.
Saying Yes to Your Work
You would think this would be easy, and yet somehow guilt keeps us from pursuing our dreams. I just had a discussion with my husband about grad school. Guilt almost kept me from enrolling. for classes and dropping the idea of grad school, yet in talking to him, he was nothing but encouraging and said my being back in school hasn’t hurt our family at all and will only help us in the long-run. I ran with the encouragement and now have my classes for fall, but first I had. to say yes. While yes there are times when we need to take a much-needed break, it is equally true that there are times that we have to push through and say no to our friends so we can say yes to work.
Sacrifice is Necessary
The truth is pursuing dreams requires sacrifices. I have found it isn’t always fun, but it is always worth it. And in the words of Miranda, “I am not throwing away my shot”. Will you throw away yours, or will you “rise up” and make the sacrifices necessary to pursue your dreams?
Interested in learning more about this hit broadway musical? Read about it in the new book Hamilton: The Revolution
Find the entire Motivation Monday Series here.
