1.22.2005

Being a Good Girl...For Once

Even though I claim "recovering Catholic" as my religion, I still practice Lent. Last year, I did what I had done every subsequent year beforehand. From midnight Fat Tuesday to Easter Sunday, no more:

  • Sweets (included any candy, ice cream, soda in my adult beverages, or sweetener in my tea or coffee. Nothing refined sugar-based.)
  • Junk food (a pain in arse when you only have 10 minutes to get lunch. Dinner was much anticipated for 5 1/2 weeks.)

It went to a new level in 2004. Not only did I give up the above for Lent; for other non-religious reasons I also gave up:

  • Smoking, of which I've been a fan for many, many years.
  • Sex (Women stuff. Ordered to not have sex for 6 weeks. For someone with a hair-trigger sex drive, that's not a welcome suggestion. At. All.)

Note to self: it's a bad idea to give up all vices at once cold-turkey. Needless to say, I caved on two of them before time was up. 10 days before E-Day, as a matter of fact. I'll leave you to guess which ones.

So, I'm looking for suggestions this year. Two is probably the most I can handle (as learned in '04). But, I've noticed the absence of something that's either a habit or a crutch becomes a habit in itself. Over the years, I weaned myself more and more from "badness", in either body or mind. It's crazy how it's so easy to adapt to something that saps you mentally or physically, but leaving it behind can be the hardest thing you've ever had to do.

I have plenty of ideas on deck, but all suggestions are welcome. And no, I'm not giving up sex this year.