Just some thoughts and ideas going around in my head while trying to figure out where I am and where everyone else is going.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Lent is Coming

Most people make their New Year’s Resolutions in order to change something that they don’t like about themselves. They try to head off in a new direction that will bring some new happiness to their lives and make them better people. And I would suppose that because this is done at the beginning of a new year, it makes it some sort of winter solstice pagan ritual that has been handed down through the centuries and has been practiced by hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. There is of course the Christian version of this practice but that really isn’t a life changing event because the whole ordeal lasts less than 6 weeks, 40 days to be exact. So I have decided to do something for Lent this year.

A lot of people will give up drinking alcohol, red meat or sex, but I figure I would have to be drinking alcohol, eating red meat or getting some to begin with. Since I haven’t had a drink in almost 2 weeks and don’t think stopping would actually prove anything. And as far as the red meat goes, well I only eat beef about once a week as it is and that’s only when I’m out since I don’t buy it anymore. Actually if I gave up meat and fish all together, that would make a far more impressive statement but like giving up candy when I was 10, that ain’t happening. And I'm not talking about sex today. In fact when I think about it, there is very little that I would to give up and out of that much less that I think I could do without for 40 days.

Let’s face it, I’m no Superman or chosen one, I can’t go about wandering around in the desert for days on end being tempted by immoral acts and then come out clean and untarnished. Although, I am not sure what kind of temptations one can have alone in a desert, unless you start to use your imagination like how I’m starting to use mine and I don’t think I will go any further along those lines right now. No, instead of giving something up, I am going to start doing something instead of, or at least in addition to.

I had made mention in an earlier post of the amount of people that have died in Zimbabwe due to cholera. I have forgotten how much it was then but as of last week I had heard that it was over 2700 people and possibly more if you took the counts from certain organizations. I have decided that instead of me taking for granted the water supply that I am privy to; I shall now drink at least 5 glasses of clean water a day because others can’t.

What’s the big deal you ask? Well like WC Fields used to joke about, plain water is like a poison to me. Drinking water without sugar or corn syrup and food coloring is like a complete anathema to me. If had thought about it before Warren Buffet did, I would have bought stock in Coca Cola before the price went up because I love it so. Drinking water is an effort that I usually can do when I dropping down dead from thirst and exhaustion.

So there it is. Nothing earth shattering. I’m going to drink plain water, but maybe I’ll be able to figure out what others are going through or unable to experience.


12 comments:

  1. You might be a water lover by the time Lent is over! I too used to hate water, now I love it!

    I think I want to try and give up bread, potatoes and flour for Lent. I think I am too addicted to carbs and all their mind numbing goodness. Still debating on the rice... you know I love sushi.

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  2. folm i have not given anything up for lent in about 30 years - i know foul

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  3. wow Lent was on my mind the other day...pity I don't have anything to give up

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  4. You sound just like my damned uncle, hating water nshyt! Have you tried adding a splash of juice to your water before you drink it? It does add a hint of flavor...I love water myself.

    L

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  5. RunningMom - "A water lover?" Now let's not go overboard. I'm already thinking about dropping that idea and just doing what I normally do, which is nothing. Water, yuck.

    As for the carbs, that's a good idea. As a population we all eat too much carbs which is why we are so obese and die from heart attacks and suffer from other diseases so much more than other industrialized countries. I'll be thinking of you next time I get that half a dozen Dunkin Donuts later this week for myself.


    All-Mi-T - Think then how special it will be to sacrifice something then this year, there's still time. It would be like coming back to the Catholic church, or is that the Mormon Church I forget which.


    Gayte - I'm sure that if you think about it, you can find something. Even if it's one hour less of TV a week or passing a homeless person on the street without giving attention to them.


    Lola - I've tried that squeeze of lemon shit. It's good fopr when your visiting people and they're too cheap to offer you something else, but at home I'm looking for comfort. Soda and beer, the stuff that will rot your teeth or give you a gut that people can hold on to. Water? The more I think about it I know this will be a sacrifice for me. I never met him, but your uncle knows what he's talking about.

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  6. Curious, I certainly appreciate your humanitarian efforts and not to mention the knowledge you share with your readers on a daily basis.

    Who says you're no Superman or Chosen One? I am please to learn that you have made what seems like the perfect thing to do during Lent, making the choice to drink clean water when others can't shows concern and character.

    You did not quote WC Fields; oh yeah you did, man you are something else, I do enjoy reading your blog.

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  7. So are you giving up the soda/beer/whatever and just stick to water during Lent, or are you drinking 5 glasses of water on top of the usual rounds of soda/beer?

    Bravo to you tho. I love soda too much. I drink water like... once a week, if there's absolutely nothing in my fridge, 3 AM in the morning, minus 20 degrees outside, and it'll take too long to warm the car up. THEN I drink water. Otherwise you bet your $10 I'd drive to the nearest store to get some soda. At 3 AM. Yessir.

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  8. I was considering giving something up just to see if I can do it. I'm not sure what to give up yet though.

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  9. Chet - I don't know about being a humanitarian, but I do know about cliches. One of then being we are as strong as our weakest link and the other that it takes a village...I like to think of the whole world as my village and if one us suffers, then we all do.


    Dusty Boot - Don't tell me you have changed your blog again. Is the FBI a concern here? Anyway, since I already know that anything that I'm hooked on is not something that I can give up easily, I'm going the opposite way and making sure that I drink water 1st and then celebrate with the good stuff later on. Oh and I feel you on the 3am binge since I do it myself.


    Mr. Jones - I'm sure that you can think of something that will apply to you. Even if it's giving up all credit and debit card purchases. They say that even those people who use their debit cards tend to spend more than they need to. Of course this might not be a good idea for some people because of circumstances, but it's all relevant and all very personal.

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  10. Curious: Yea I know, but blogger won't let me re-use the other blog name. I just got home last week so I figured I'd start anew. No, FBI isn't involved (it would be ever so dramatic if it were, no?).

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  11. ok so far so good for me... how are you doing on the water?

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  12. RunningMom - Things are going well for me. Of course I never said how big the glasses were so I use the samllest ones that I can find. It's too bad I don't have shot glasses, then I'd really be living.

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