Monday, February 8, 2010

Lent Me A Hand

I do not believe in New Years Resolutions.  Rather, I do not believe in them for me because I find that I rarely stick to them for more than a week.  Besides, as a practicing Catholic I have a much more effective tool when it comes to self-improvement:  Lent.

For some reason (and I am guessing that it is because the fear of God is added into the mix) I do much better at Lenten sacrifices. In the past, I have done things such as giving up meat (pre-vegetarian days) and sweets. I also have done things that would make a positive impact in my life such as adding a weekly mass in addition to Sunday.   I even took on my most challenging, yet rewarding conquest:  Resolving to say nothing but positive things about others....for 40 days....no matter how much they might annoy me.  The reason that I chose this is because I think that every so often I find myself indulging in conversation that is non-productive and contributes to a negative environment.  I don't think of myself as a gossip by any means, but I think that we are all a little guilty of venting from time to time. To quote Eleanor Roosevelt:  "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. "  It was a challenge that I feel made me a better person.  It was also a challenge that stretched my vocabulary as I found that I was apt to use a little creative wording from time to time. (Hey, I'm only human.)

So here I am wondering what to do/ give up for Lent this year.  I am open to repeats. Any suggestionss???

3 comments:

  1. From Facebook:
    Susan Yasi
    Let's see. How about giving up Television? It's such a time-stealer. . . I'm not Catholic (anymore) but I'm trying to stop my personal negative-talk downward spiral. Crabby is catchy, so it needs to stop at (my) source. It's harder to completely eradicate than one would think.
    9 hours ago ·

    Kevin Walsh: How about a word? Maybe "never" "can't" or "no".

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  2. I can't wait for (paczki?) "poonchkie" day. All this talk of sacrifice is making me hungry for the king of doughnuts...

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  3. That last one was me, didn't mean to be anonymous about it... -Mick

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