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.