Second Try

Today is Ash Wednesday. The day where Catholics announce their faith with ash in a form of a cross on their forehead. Growing up you knew the devoted families as fellow Catholic students who attend early morning mass and sported the ashen cross for the full day at school. Wearing it all day would cause the ash to fill in every pore and stain the skin into the shadow cross. It didn’t matter how hard you scrubbed, that shadow cross was there until Friday. My family attended the evening mass and that hour the ash didn’t have a chance to seep into the skin.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Where all my Catholic friends and I would decide what we were going to give up. In younger years it was candy until it was someone’s birthday in class. As we got older, we got creative. Giving up swearing. Later, it was I am giving up 10 pounds. I think deep down I was hoping for divine intervention to make that happen.
I now view this time as a second chance to have success with my failed New Year’s Resolutions.
Eating healthier was one of my resolutions. Lent is a great time to eat simply and in smaller quantities. Instead of giving up all sweets how about just having them on one day a week? If you ever have seen the movie Chocolat, you know it can be disastrous to completely give up chocolate completely if you are a chocoholic. I am. I feel if I gave up all chocolate, I too would be found on Easter morning covered in chocolate that I took from the Easter Bunny. I also would most likely be naked. No one needs to see that.
I wanted to go room to room of my home and declutter. It hasn’t happened yet. But if my goal is to give to a thrift shop that helps those in need I can stay on task. My sister posted this idea. Every day you put an item to donate in a box. By the end of lent, you will have 40 items. This does not mean putting your ratty underwear into the donation box. That’s just icky. Also if you are going through your pantry do not only donate items that have a near or past expiration date.
Take time to pray for others. Write down what you are grateful for and be thankful. Do this every night and I think you will see a change in your mood and spirit.
I am writing this on Tuesday, Fat Tuesday. I have a few things to get out of my house before tomorrow. Like a 5 pound bag of M&M’s. I am going to take the hit and eat them. The bag is open, I can’t donate.
It would be a sin to just throw them away.