For Lent this year Matt and I gave up caffeine. Also alcohol and snacks, but a lot of leniency was applied to the latter two. I hope it is not sacrilegious to say that we treat Lenten sacrifices more as an exercise in personal discipline than as a religious practice.
(Yesterday we went shopping in Raleigh and on our way home we stopped for a NuGrape. It was delicious! I was very happy that Lent was over so we could do that.)
I've given up something most years since being intrigued by my high school friend Ana's sacrifice of chocolate. Matt has joined me the last couple of years. And one year in college I had the brilliant idea of giving up kissing, so he was kind of forced to comply. To be honest, I think we were fairly lax enforcing that one too.
Anyway, we realized over the past few weeks that we seem to be much more committed to Lenten fasts than to New Year's resolutions. Unfortunately, Lent lasts only six weeks and we tend to fall right back into our old habits when it's over. (See second paragraph.)
So we decided to try giving up something every month. This month it's pizza and criticizing. We order pizza way too often and we always get too much because we have a good coupon. It might be impossible for me to quit criticizing altogether, but at least I'm more conscious of it now, and thus more likely to catch myself.
I like this idea because a month is long enough for measurable results yet short enough that the end is in sight. But I hope some of the changes stick. They say it takes only 21 days for a habit to form, you know.
(Yesterday we went shopping in Raleigh and on our way home we stopped for a NuGrape. It was delicious! I was very happy that Lent was over so we could do that.)
I've given up something most years since being intrigued by my high school friend Ana's sacrifice of chocolate. Matt has joined me the last couple of years. And one year in college I had the brilliant idea of giving up kissing, so he was kind of forced to comply. To be honest, I think we were fairly lax enforcing that one too.
Anyway, we realized over the past few weeks that we seem to be much more committed to Lenten fasts than to New Year's resolutions. Unfortunately, Lent lasts only six weeks and we tend to fall right back into our old habits when it's over. (See second paragraph.)
So we decided to try giving up something every month. This month it's pizza and criticizing. We order pizza way too often and we always get too much because we have a good coupon. It might be impossible for me to quit criticizing altogether, but at least I'm more conscious of it now, and thus more likely to catch myself.
I like this idea because a month is long enough for measurable results yet short enough that the end is in sight. But I hope some of the changes stick. They say it takes only 21 days for a habit to form, you know.
No comments:
Post a Comment