The 40-Day Thing (aka Lent)

I was a Senior in high school when I first learned about Lent. I was fascinated by the idea. I had a Catholic classmate that gave up sugar (a common sacrifice for Lent I discovered) and put a cramp in our cooking class assignment because of it, but I respected her. I thought it was really cool that she took it seriously and didn’t cheat.

A lot of teens would cheat. I mean it’s not like her parents would know. But she would, and that was impressive to me.

When I was a missionary (for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) in Japan back in the day (late 80s) we used to do this thing called A Season of Sanctification. It was a period of time when we tried to be “perfect.” Yeah, I sucked at it. I loved the goal-setting  and check-off-list making. I Love that! I still make lists, like crazy! I am not so good on the checking-off part. You know, the getting ‘er done. Meh.

So when I came home from my mission I kind of decided to do the Lenten thing and make a sacrifice during the 40 days before Easter. I thought it would help me appreciate the season and bring me closer to the Spirit. I gave up chocolate, sugar, or soda. Sometimes I DID something instead of giving something up. One year I participated in Body-for-Life and went down two sizes!

They say it takes 21 days to make a habit so you’d think I would have a habit after 40+ days but usually not. I would binge before (the year I made the most delicious homemade Boston Cream Pie for Fat Tuesday, notwithstanding!) and binge after. The said year that I did the BFL? I stopped when it was over and if you know that BFL is a 12-week program then you know that I didn’t make it.

In the last 10 years or so I have tried to combine the two ideas. I have tried to create a Season of Sanctification during Lent where I try to do “it all” for 40 days. I have never done it. I usually give up after about 3 days. Meh.

This year, as part of my Blogging goals and my year of the Uneven Number I will be incorporating two Seasons of Sanctification. The first one will begin in November around Thanksgiving (which if you do the math is approximately 40ish days before Christmas) and again in the spring around Lent. My blog posts will be reflective of this goal and I have an outline that I plan to follow. I am hoping that the timing will help to bring me closer to the Spirit of Christmas and Easter, the two most holy of holidays for Christians. I consider myself a True Christian more than anything else. The Golden Rule is the motto of my life. 

Wish me luck... and maybe, bug me?