Yearly Sacrifices

My best friend is Catholic, so every year, I have to deal with Lent. I don't participate myself, of course, but because she does, it usually ends up affecting me anyway. Two years ago, she gave up alcohol. This resulted in me spending St. Patrick's Day with her telling her how little foresight she had in the matter.  Last year, she gave up Diet Coke, which was hell on everyone.  She was in a foul mood.  She was always tired. And I never got Diet Coke when I was over at her house.

I thought for CERTAIN that mistake would not be repeated.  But here it is, Fat Tuesday and she tells me Diet Coke is being sacrificed again. This was my response:

"You gave up Diet Coke AGAIN? WTF? That almost killed you last year. It almost killed me! Why couldn't you just give up something else for 40 days, like bathing or taking care of your child?"

Of course I wasn't serious.  I want her to bathe.

This got me thinking though about the whole concept of sacrificing things for....well, for whatever reason. I know a lot of religions do it, probably most of them, actually.  I know that a lot of people do it from time to time. I get that it requires discipline and makes you think about things.

Normally, this just annoys me. I'm not sure why. I guess one of the basic reasons I'm not very good at religions is because I have a fundamental opposition to things that require me sacrificing . . . or restricting my actions . . . or changing before I'm ready . . . or standing . . .

Oh well, you get the idea.

I know a lot of people do take this seriously. Some people put a great deal of thought into what they will give up for Lent. For many of them, it's probably a very cleansing and reflective time.

If you haven't given it a lot of thought and are at a lost for what to give up for Lent, allow me to make the following suggestions.

For the next forty days:

1. Stop your addiction to self-criticism. Give yourself 40 days to just make mistakes and be human. Stop striving for perfection and thinking you have to always do everything right.
2. Stop your addiction to criticizing others. Realize everyone makes mistakes and quite often when they do, it's nothing against you personally. 
3. Let the little things slide.  Instead of being annoyed with absolutely every aspect of what is going wrong in your day, concentrate on the parts that are going right.
4. Don't fall into the quagmire of negative news.  If stories about libs make you angry, don't read them. If stories about Fox News makes you want to pull out your hair, then avoid them.  
5. If you know the comments to something are going to piss you off, don't read them.  For the next 40 days, avoid the frustration of proving to yourself over and over again how much other people can suck.
6. Don't make shitty comments.  Take head of the old saying that if you have nothing nice to say, keep silent.  
7. Get enough sleep.  This is something we neglect so often. Sacrifice those extra couple of hours spent awake doing basically nothing and actually allow yourself more sleep time.
8. Take time, every day, to truly commit to memory what you are doing.  We go through so many routines and rituals that most of us are unaware they are even happening.  Focus on one part of your day and try to concentrate on what makes THIS TIME different.
9. Go out of your way to avoid the people who drain you.  
10. Go out of your way to spend doing the things that make you truly happy. 

I know these aren't traditional Lent things, probably not by a long shot. I think they fit the spirit of it though. Sacrifice and fasting should always be about cleansing. This doesn't just mean the body.  Following just one of these things might help you reset the balance of negative vs. positive in your life.  Doing all of them? Why, I bet you'd have one hell of a Lent season.