I am an atheist but I celebrate Christmas and Easter as secular family traditions. Easter starts with the Lenten season, which starts tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday and lasts for 40 days until Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. For Lent, I usually give up something like sodas or Cadbury Creme Eggs or steaks or American Idol.
This year, I am giving up everything. I feel like my life has gotten a little off track. I am putting my energy into the wrong things. I am going to use this time to reset. I am going to see if I can give up every bad habit I have and divest myself of any extraneous demands on my time and energy.
Here is a list of things I can do without:
- Candy
- Chips
- Cupcakes
- Cookies
- Diet soda
- French fries
- Fast food
- Television
- Staying up until midnight
- Graduate school (after this class ends in two weeks)
- Using Google Reader at work
- Take out for dinner
- Skipping breakfast
- Donuts
- Frizzy hair
- Not exercising
- Facial hair
- Hairy legs
- Clothes and shoes that don't fit well
- People I don't like
- More stuff to donate
- Tweeting and texting in the car
- No division between work and home
- Paying attention to politics
