Giving up, and taking on.

[luckycanuck]

It being pancake day, pancakes were had with some work colleauges in other offices.

Of course, pancake day is more formally known as Shrove Tuesday, the last day before the ecclesiastical season of Lent.

So I did have pancakes, and over the course of the day I had the last of a few things before Lent begins.  My last coffee, my last serving of meat, my last beer, my last sweets.  As before, I plan to give up alcohol, meat, sweets, and caffeine.  It sounds like a lot, but it's really not as impossibly difficult as many people seem to think.  (Caffeine is, in my experience is the toughest to get used to.)  I tend to really enjoy the season and the sacrifice.  Every time I don't have something on my list that I wold normally have (forgoing a cup of tea or a glass of wine or ordering something from the vegetarian side of the menu) I am reminded that I am making a sacrifice.  Some have described the self denial of Lent as tuning out things that distract from God.  The frequent reminders tend to turn my thoughts to my faith on a regular basis.  It's a good time of year, and I seem to look forward to it.

But Lent is not just about giving things up.  It is meant to be about taking things on too.  Some take on charitable work or almsgiving.  One custome is to donate the amount that you would have spent of whatever one has given up to a charity or to dedicate the time spent doing something that has been given up to a charitable cause.  I've not yet worked out what I will do about that.

In as much as Lent is about listening to God, I think I will try to make that a habit.  Believing in God in a fairly orthodox way is not something that ever fazed me.  One thing I have struggled with, however, is prayer.  I don't do it much, except in extraordinary times.  I don't feel moved to do it often, and the fact that it doesn't seem to come naturally to me is one thing that worried me about the priesthood.

So for Lent, I plan to make a habit out of the daily office (the official daily prayer) before bed.  I have a number of resources for this.  The Irish Jesuits have a site that lays out readings and prayers, as does the Church of England, and I've got a prayerbook that was given to me when I was studying theology.  It doesn't have to take long, but it will give me the chance to listen (and perhaps to get accustomed to listening.)

TW: 50 seated rows, 10 shoulder presses - five rounds. 10 pullups, 10 pushups - five rounds. 200 leg presses, row 1000m.

I've done enough Crossfit now that I am happy making up my own workouts based on their principles.  I'm not entirely sure how I got from the car to the house tonight.  I probably walked, but I don't recall actually taking any steps and I may have floated.  I also found myself walking around the empty house giggling.  WHEEEEEE! Endorphins are fun!