Tag: Lent

DEPRIVATION LEADS TO JOY 😊

This phrase may seem counterintuitive. With many observing Lent, I thought discussing fasting and sacrifice would be prudent. Many people fail to see the point of doing without. Aside from the spiritual benefits, there are some great self-improvement benefits as well. We will look at a major one that may have you rethinking how you look at giving up things.

I use the analogy of being stranded in the desert. You have no food, very little water. It is hot during the day and cold at night. In a very short time, things can get dangerous. Let’s imagine you make it  3 days and are suddenly rescued. All your rescuer had with them is water and saltine crackers. I can tell you, that will be one of the best meals you have ever had.

If I were to offer you those same two items at an “all you can eat buffet” How much would you enjoy them? For most of us in the industrialized world life is pretty much an all– you-can-eat buffet. We have a roof over our heads, clean running water, food and a place to sleep. We don’t think of these as luxurious, but take any of them away for even a day and our opinion would certainly change.

That is why fasting different things for a period helps increase our appreciation for them. This could include eating sugar,drinking coffee, or even your spouse. There is great truth to the saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I can personally attest to this. When I walk through the door after a hard days work, my lovely Margie is that much more beautiful than when I left her that morning.

How about you? Is there something you could try doing without to renew your feelings of appreciation for it?

40 DAYS TO ACCEPTING WHO YOU ARE

For our Christian friends, Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent. This is a month of introspection, fasting or acts of service to help deepen their faith. I applaud this idea. Anything that not only helps improve yourself, but also deepens your spiritual beliefs is a win/win in my book. The irony, in my humble opinion, is that next month our Muslim friends celebrate Ramadan. What is that you may ask? It is a month of prayer, fasting and introspection to help deepen their faith. It surprises me how much we all have in common, yet still can find reasons to wage war in the name of God.

What I would like to discuss, is the very act both of these periods of time accomplish and how we view them. In the example of Lent, which is upon us, one is to give up meat on Fridays. A little sacrifice to allow yourself to be more mindful, that is good stuff. If you accidentally eat a salad that has real bacon bits on it, what happens? Do you consider yourself a failure? Have you committed a terrible sin that has offended your creator greatly? No, my guess would be that you may chastise yourself and be a little more focused on what you eat in the future. The purpose here is to become more mindful. If you forgot you gave up eating sweets, as an example, and you accidentally eat a homemade doughnut your girlfriend made in baking class, do you quit and forget the rest of Lent? Of course not. The whole point in doing these activities is to strengthen your faith and your character.

One of the great lessons we can take from these wonderful moments of spiritual introspection is that success and improvement is seldom, if ever, a linear equation. We may stumble. We may make mistakes and not be as mindful or thoughtful as we should be. This does not make us failures and often leads to some of the greatest character building. We have to remember that these challenges make us who we are. We also can use these experiences to practice compassion for ourselves. Whether you are undergoing Lent this month, or Ramadan next month, may you see a great sense of spiritual growth and may you learn to be patient with yourself as well as others.

Even if you do not find yourself following either of these spiritual paths, there is something to be learned about periods of self-improvement and reflection. What we can learn is that we will go backwards and stumble as we make our way forward. A side-effect of improving ourselves or deepening our faith is that we must learn to practice compassion. For ourselves, for others and for the world around us. If we do not, we will not succeed with improving much in our lives, spiritual or otherwise.

A BIRD WITH A FRENCH FRY

One of the greatest things about living a positive rewarding life is you are subconsciously attracting new joyous things into your life.  In the world we are surrounded daily by both beauty and ugliness. What you choose to focus on is what you will notice. Of course there are certainly things we can do to surround ourselves with one more than the other.  On my facebook page I subscribe to several inspirational and uplifting pages. Not only do they bring unexpected joy into my day, but quite often a bit more.  Just the other day I saw a picture on one of these pages of a little bird and below it read “Happiness is a bird with a french fry” It created an instant and poignant visual.  I think all of us have seen gulls in a parking lot having a field day with a few fries that may have escaped before their owners could consume them. I liked this phrase so much I decided to use it all that day.  When people asked “how are you?” I would answer “Happier than a bird with a french fry” Not only did it make me smile, but in almost every case it made the other person smile as well. So this week, stop and think of an inspiring response for the question “How are you?” or maybe several. Try them out.  Have fun with it. Enjoy and have a great week!