To "sacrifice" means to give up something for the sake of something else. We decided to sacrifice our luxurious city life to move to a seaside village with our children aged 9 and 3. In the city, we had a beautiful home and plenty of money but little real security because crime was on the increase every day. We never knew if we would all make it home safely each night. We were very happy in the new town but life was very difficult economically. Our income was very much dependent on tourism and the jobs at other times are few. Although many of the long-standing residents live well, it is a very competitive environment for newcomers. Reading the newspapers from the big cities assured us that we had made the right choice. There is so much violence and crime there! However, it was not always easy to explain .to the children why they could no longer have what they used to have, especially when our "rich" friends came from the city to visit. One day, one of our "rich" friends came to visit us. His son preferred riding in the back of our  _ truck to his father's modern car. Our little daughter called me and said, "Mom, please help me explain to James why he is wrong. He said, 'today, if you don't have money you are nothing.' I know that is not true. If you do have money you share it with your friends and if they don't have money, you share it with them. That is what makes us all rich." This made me realize that the sacrifice was well worth it. Our kids have a solid set of values and they know that our most precious gifts are our good friends and a wonderful environment. Why was it "a very competitive environment" for them according to the author?
The residents were all very poor. Their children couldn't get what they had in the city. It was hard to make a living. They had few friends in their new environment.