forty days and forty entries
for those of you who are catholic out there, or at least raised catholic like me, you would know that today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. the story goes that Jesus walked in the desert for forty days and forty nights, etc. during this time, catholics everywhere would give up something to sacrifice for Jesus ending with celebrations on Easter Sunday.
i don’t consider myself catholic. my family is, and i was when i was younger, until i realized a lot about my spiritual path. but this entry isn’t about that.
one of the traditions i do/try to follow every year is sacrificing something for Lent.
i’ve heard that if you consistently do something for forty days, that thing becomes a habit. i’m not sure how true this is. but every year for Lent, i’ve given up something, ie. meat, and noticed after the forty-day period that meat became a little less desirable and harder to digest.
i’ve been a full-fledged meat eater for awhile since, but i’m sure if i persisted afterwards, i’d probably still be a vegetarian. i just didn’t really have the full desire to quit it altogether. it was something i wanted to do and see if i could change my eating habits. althouhg, it did take me awhile after that before i started eating red meat. red meat is a lot tougher for your body to process, so suffice to say for a year or two after that, my body wasn’t loving it too much.
one of the things i’m trying to do this year is to focus less on my eating habits as part of Lent and focus more on goals that i had set for myself.
this morning, i got up early and went to the gym. i don’t know if i can do the forty-day-in-a-row gym thing. i think it’s not that good for you to go every day. you end up burning yourself out and your results plateau. i’m sure it would be different if i knew what i was doing, but my knowledge in the gym is very limited. so i’ve decided that i’m going to set a weekly schedule for myself and stick with it during this period. and every day, i’m going to log my results in a notebook and keep it on hand. if i can’t get into that habit, i’m sure i’ll be much better for it in the long run.
another goal of mine is to start writing entries again. i’ve gotten into the habit of posting photos from my phone, which is all fine and dandy, but if i don’t start writing some substance again, my blog is not a blog anymore. it’s a photo gallery.
i am a writer. i do like to write. i think i don’t write as much anymore do to sheer laziness. i had convinced myself that it was because i didn’t have as much time as i used to (i wrote a lot when i was receptionist). i really have no excuse. so i’ve decided that i am going to write an entry each day for forty days. they may not be lengthy and full of insight, i may revert back to listing the events of my day, but it will be a start.
i’ve also decided to give up soda. (damn! i was just beginning to love my vodka and diet coke!) and i know you’re all thinking i should quit smoking, but setting that goal for Lent is just too hard and i really don’t want to set myself up for failure. i’m going to leave that a non-Lent goal in the near future. that’s not something i want to quit for forty days and be depressed that i started smoking again on Easter Sunday.
