Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent for many people. In case you don't know what Lent is, it is the 40 days and 40 nights leading up until Easter. These 40 days are supposed to represent the time that Jesus spent fasting in the desert leading up to his work as a prophet and minister. On Ash Wednesday, many Christians (including myself) attend mass and are blessed with ashes on their forehead. These ashes are of burned palm leaves which are saved from previous past Palm Sunday celebrations. Christians who receive ashes on their foreheads usually leave their foreheads marked with the sign of the cross all day to show their religion. Lent is usually time for people to reflect and grow in their relationship with God, show sacrifice through abstinence, and prayer.

Later this evening I will attend mass with a friend and receive my ashes. Nowadays, a lot of attention attributed to Lent is what to give up and sacrifice for the next 40 days. Religious individuals would not make this the highlight of the season, but the general public does.

I have given up many different things in the past. Usually they are some sort of guilty pleasure of food. Chocolate is a biggie for most people and I have given it up for several years. I decided to give up ice cream one year in high school because I had a bad habit of coming home from school and eat a huge bowl (probably almost a quart) of ice cream pretty much every day. I have given up Facebook my first years in college. I have given up drinking pop (not included in alcoholic drinks). The majority of the time, I am successful at abstaining from my behavior of choice. And there are excellent results at the end. When I give up different foods, it is usually because it is unhealthy or I need to kick a bad habit. After Lent, I tend to not indulge in such habits nearly as often.

From many years I have been refining my eating habits and try to eat healthier on a daily basis. I don't eat fast food very often, I try not to snack (so I don't buy them at the store), I don't keep sweets around my apartment or have desserts laying around. I work out with my boyfriend about twice a week depending on schedules. So I've been at a dilemma on what I should give up this year.

And I know I'm going to be upset about this a few weeks in, but I shall stay off Twitter for 40 days. I go on Twitter so many times a day I don't think I could even count them all. If you are going to sacrifice something, it should be something that you engage in frequently. Otherwise it isn't really sacrifice at all, now is it? I could give up candy... but I don't eat candy all that often. So what's the point of giving that up? My goal is to give up the tweet machine.

Lent is also a time where you can do something extra. I want to keep a list of things that I am thankful for during this season. Maybe I will post it after Easter on here. But since I won't be on Twitter, I would guess that I might post here more often.