Friday, February 26, 2010

Lent

I'm not a very traditional religious person... I don't go to church, I forget to pray, I never count my blessings, I can't quote scripture worth a flip. BUT I do believe in God, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, Heaven, angels, Eternal Life...

I don't give hell, the devil or demons alot of credit. My God is an awesome God and He reigns supreme.

So, despite my terrible habits (lifestyle?), I do believe, respect and honor God - in my heart, if not in my actions. And out of that respect I try to partake in some of the traditions my religion supports, such as Lent.

Lent is when (I think) some Christians sacrifice something important to them for 40 days (between Ash Wednesday and Easter - altho, by my count, that's more than 40 days, at least this year) in honor of Jesus' 40-day fast and sabbatical "back in the day." Almost every year I make a Lenten sacrifice and I believe every year I've not honored it. I made a decision that 2010 would be the year I make REAL changes in my life (not again in 2010) so I'm super sensitive to NOT falling into old habits again (and again and again...).

My resolutions are pretty much shot. And my Lenten sacrifice list was quite lengthy... there is so much more I could (should!) do. I'm just not the person I really want to be...

I thought about giving up:
not exercising
spending money frivolously
reading for leisure
alcohol

I thought this would be a good time to incorporate some new habits, like:
praying everyday
reading the bible everyday
reading & doing the exercises for Purpose Driven Life
reading & doing the exercises for 48 Days to the Work You Love
doodling daily

So far, I've not started a new leisure reading book, which is really big for me. I love to read, it's how I relax at the end of the day. I start thinking about my next book before I'm finished with the one I'm reading... I love it, love it, love it! (Reading)

The spending is going FAIRLY well. I've slipped more than once - 3 times, I think. I'm realizing what a habit shopping without thought is for me. I see it, I want it, I buy it. Not for the next few weeks. I'm proud of this one, I'm most focused it. I'm very aware of my urge to spend. My slips were intentional, which is bad. I think it's forgivable when you forget & break a promise, but if you intentionally do it??? Uh, not so good.

So here we are, a little over a week into Lent and I'm not doing so well, am I? So I'm throwing out a few more for my consideration:
  • 40 clothing items to donate
  • 40 non-clothing items to donate
  • 40 things to sell on Ebay
Maybe I'll have better luck with 40 selections of something instead of trying to do something in particular everyday...

Maybe.

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