no _________

welcome to the season that Christians know as Lent. a time for sacrifice and reflection on Jesus' final journey before his death. now, i'm not about to get all religious on you with holy talk, so don't fret. i will get some what spiritual on your ass.

some common talk between friends and family is what they're doing for Lent. more specifically, what they're giving up for 40 days and 40 nights. the whole concept of sacrificing something, particularly a vice, is to better yourself as a person and deepen your faith.

now i've been looking at Lent like how i look at New Years Resolutions. although its a test of your self-control to give something up for 40 days, why do we have to wait for times of the year like Lent or New Years to change something about ourselves? i know people that have not gone back to the vice that they give up during Lent and i also know people that use the excuse of 'its sunday' to cheat on their Lenten sacrifice. but what i love about Lent, is that it puts sacrifice back in the forefront. with that, it opens so many doors to other opportunities that you may not have had before.

i'm continuing to learn that sacrifice goes hand in hand with putting others first. and which ever way you look at it whether it be karma, the golden rule or any similar concept, it guides us back to the nature of who we really are. looking at the bigger picture, we realize that things get done better when there is a unified movement towards a better tomorrow. i don't know about anybody else, but i don't have the time and energy to be dealing with any negativity in my life. the people that matter most will continue to share positive energy with you as we continue on our journey.

i haven't 'given up' anything for Lent. but i continue to open my mind to the reasons why sacrifices are made. sometimes we have to accept things that we cannot control. we might not 'need' things that we feel that we may want. it seems like it all boils down to simplicity. social status and material items doesn't benefit the growth of ones soul. sharing life with the friends and family that matters is a beautiful thing. its a great time to remember who we are and what we represent. when we realize that we are amazing people with great qualities, there is no need to sacrifice anything anymore. thats because anything that we don't like about ourselves doesn't matter anymore.