It's Memorial Day, which is more than just a day off from work or a cookout with friends. It’s a chance to remember people who made the ultimate sacrifice.

In May 2002, Pat Tillman walked away from a $3.6 million NFL contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army. No press conference or farewell tour. He just decided that he wanted to do something with his life bigger than for himself.

Two years later, he was killed in Afghanistan at the age of 27.

Joseph Campbell wrote, "A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."

Men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice, like Pat Tillman, are the real heroes. Now it’s unlikely that you or I will ever face a moment like that. But that mindset, the one where something outside yourself matters more than your own comfort or safety, that's not exclusive to soldiers.

It's the mother who gives up sleep and parts of herself for her kids without a second thought. It's the father working a job he doesn't love, so his family has what they need. It’s the entrepreneur who doesn’t pay themselves but instead pays their employees to make ends meet. It's the person who shows up every day for their team, not because anyone is watching, but because it's who they've decided to be.

There's something deeply attractive about people like that. Not attractive in a shiny, “look at me” kind of way. Attractive in its most pure sense: you respect the sacrifice.

Because when someone has found something worth giving themselves to, it changes how they live every single day. This Memorial Day, honor the ones who gave everything. And ask yourself, what am I doing that’s bigger than myself?

Because the people who've answered that question clearly are the ones who command the utmost respect.