Sacrificing and Fasting, An Example

Throughout this, the first Bahá'í fast I have participated in, I have thought many a time about two dear friends in college, A&L. Through them I first learned about the Faith and its annual fast. At Lewis & Clark College, with its one main dining hall ("The Bon", which we pronounced like "bone") that had fairly limited hours, these friends would line up before it closed (before the sun went down), took a plate of food and some glasses of drink, sat down with their trays and patiently waited for the sun to set. I would sit before them and felt somewhat bad about eating in front of them, but they always encouraged us not to wait. They never complained. They never made us feel badly about eating. They waited patiently for their turn. Their actions made a strong impression on me. We really do teach through our actions. Throughout this fast I am doing my very best to emulate them, but I surely have a long way to go. Thank you, dear friends, for providing this model example.
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On Sacrifice

In this month of sacrifice, I seek to understand the meaning of sacrifice and why we must sacrifice. Fortunately, answers are everywhere if one but looks.

Shoghi Effendi says the following about the meaning of self-sacrifice:
"Self-sacrifice means to subordinate this lower nature and its desires to the more godly and noble side of ourselves. Ultimately, in its highest sense, self-sacrifice means to give our will and our all to God to do with as He pleases. Then He purifies and glorifies our true self until it becomes a shining and wonderful reality."
I've also heard sacrifice described as giving up something lower for something higher. After my sister had her son (one year and one day ago) and decided to stay home with him, I recall how clearly I began to understand this deeper notion of "sacrifice" as being this notion of choosing something higher.

As to why we must sacrifice, here is some useful guidance from Abdu'l-Bahá:
"Until a being setteth his foot in the plane of sacrifice, he is bereft of every favor and grace; and this plane of sacrifice is the realm of dying to the self, that the radiance of the living God may then shine forth."