I have never understood the point of pancakes on Fat Tuesday for Mardi Gras. Maybe someone can explain that to me. Of course, I also have never understood the "giving up" tradition of Lent. My SIL is giving up FB for Lent. Another friend is giving up chocolate. Another Chipotle.*
Granted I agreed to do a 15lbs of Lent with a friend from Seminary on FB. We're tracking our weight loss from March 9 until Easter (April 24). That's a good 40 days to work on losing weight and getting in shape. JG hooked me up with a good workout, and my goal is to do that daily and get back to a good habit.
Part of that goal, or Lenten discipline as it were, is to learn and understand that the gift God gave me of my body is to be treasured and adored. I often ...hate is a bad word... really dislike my body. But the truth it, I haven't been treating it well and it deserves better.
Another Lenten discipline is for me to really appreciate life. I bought a gratitude journal after I read Andrea had gotten one too. I really like it and I need to be reminding myself that life is good and show my gratitude for it.
I want my Lenten journey to be just that - a journey. A journey into my inner self where I can learn more about me and what makes me happy. A journey with my outer self where I can strengthen my body so I can physically handle anything that comes my way. I have some lofty goals for running this year, and I need a strong body to do this.
I know I can do this. I can be a strong, confident woman, so help me God.
*Update- I'm not saying any of these things are bad. They aren't. I need to find another option - adding to my life instead of removing. :) That's just me.
2 comments:
The pancake thing goes back to when people gave up rich foods during Lent---meat, butter eggs---and it was a way for them to use up supplies so they didn't go to waste over the coming weeks.
Giving up certain foods is just a type of fasting, which is usually done during times of repentance and reflection (like Lent) as opposed to festivals (like Easter) when one is supposed to take joy in all the good things God has given us.
Make sense? :-)
I read something recently that said, "God created me and God doesn't make mistakes." That kind of resonated with me... each of us is a work of art created by God and when I bad-mouth or starve my body, I'm disrespecting that art. It really was kind of a powerful thing to realize... and I'm not a religious person at all!
I thought about taking something up for Lent as a joke... but then I decided I shouldn't do that just because I don't really understand the symbolism.
I have a little moleskin notebook and I write a line of "daily gratitude" in it about every 3 or 4 days... I should do it every day, but at least that little bit is helpful. I just started it about a month ago.
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