Lent has been special to me for many years. Even when I was in that phase of not going to church regularly and being spiritual but not religious, I still liked Lent. To me Lent was a fun challenge to either give up something or to do something. I've posted before about this - I do well when I challenge myself.
I've been toying with several ideas for what to do this Lent. One idea I had was to give up alcohol. The thing is this is not that hard for me. In general I guess I have 2 to 3 nights that I drink in a month's period. Lent is only 6 and half weeks long - so that is about 4 to 5 nights of drinking. And in most cases its usually only a drink or two at a dinner out. Overall this would not be that hard. And it would also have one big conflict that my frugal side would give me an exception for and let me drink on Saturday. I have tickets for our public museum's Food and Froth event. It's a fund raiser at the museum where 50+ food and alcohol purveyors set up amongst the museum's exhibits with free sampling. I went last year and it is a lot of fun, and a lot of beer is drunk there too! My frugal side kids in because the ticket was $55 and it would not be worth near that if I could not drink alcohol at it. So since its not a big challenge and I already have this conflict giving up alcohol is out for this Lent.
I've come up with multiple Lenten promises - they do not fit the traditional giving something up but they do fit a number of my personal objectives so I think it is a good way to bring the spirit in with the rest of my life.
The
first lenten promise is to declutter for 15 to 30 minutes most days. I know, I know. It doesn't sound like a good Lent item. But look at it from this way - as I declutter it means I will have items to donate to those in need. And I'll certainly have more items to donate with this process than I would if I gave up alcohol! Plus there is always the 'cleanliness is closer to God' justification. I understand most will think this item is more for me than for God, but I do believe there is a cleansing spiritual aspect to letting go of things. I must have a bit of a Buddhist view in me because I see the spirit in items and I do have a hard time letting them go if I'm not convinced they will have a better life than what I can give them. I think this can be a win-win.
The second Lent promise is about being good to myself. Again I understand treating yourself is not the traditional Lenten approach. But honestly, I've been so hard on myself lately that I need some reminders that I am good enough and worthy of fun and enjoyment. So with all that said,
the second Lent promise is to go out for at least 4 fish fries. There are 7 Fridays in Lent (Fridays are the traditional Milwaukee Fish Fry day), so I'm enjoying a fish fry about half the time. There is no restriction on this - I can go out with friends or family, go out by myself, or bring take out home. I can go for either lunch or dinner. Any of these options are open - whatever helps me find enjoyment is fine.
A third lenten promise is to consume no more than 2 bags of snack food per week. Again I know what you are thinking. For someone that is trying to lose weight and get in shape that is way too much! But if I'm honest with myself many weeks have more than that; and too often once I start a bag it is gone within 24 hours. As I've posted before, I don't do well when I completely cut out the junk food. I was reading another article about building good habits,etc and one of their recommendations was to only cut down by half. I'm not sure 2 bags a week is half - I don't think I normally get 4 bags a week (yuk!) but I do think this will be a challenge for me (and honestly that is true but sad to say and depresses me to post it publicly).
A fourth lenten promise is attending and/or participating in 6 spiritual events this Lent. There is such a wide variety of things to be counted - attending Stations of the Cross, Walking the Labyrinth, attending Vespers, going to confession, etc. I'm starting the count off this week with going to the Jesus Christ Superstar show at St Mathatias church. My friend Beth is in their production. I've also already purchased a ticket for the
Zion Passion Play - this has been on my list for a number of years ever since I heard about it. They used to have it every 2 or 3 years but for the last 5 years or so, they have not put on the production. This year its back and I have a ticket for the Saturday evening before Palm Sunday. I'm not sure if I'll go alone (that honestly has a lot of appeal) or if I'll invite some friends to get tickets. Its the day before Wally's anniversary and for a lot of reasons I'd rather be by myself.
I think this is a good list; it's challenging in a number of ways for me. It's not traditional, and for some reason that fact is making me happy about this list.
This list affects all areas of my life - and that's a good thing because it helps bring Lent into all areas of my life. It's day 2 and so far I'm doing well (chuckle, chuckle)!! I'll try to post an update every Monday on how I did for the prior week. I'm hopefully that type of accountability will help keep me focused.
