I Give Up!

It's that time of year again. You know the one. Lent. Time to think hard about what you can give up for 40 days (or more if you count Sundays). I would like to make a disclaimer that I'm not Catholic, but I do like this tradition. Even if what I tend to give up is strange, it always makes me think of God more often and usually in a better light.

The first year I decided to try out this tradition was my senior year in high school. I don't really remember what prompted me to try and I really have no clue as to why I picked what I did. I chose to give up potatoes. I guess I thought that would be a fairly simple item to give up my first go round. I was wrong. Back then we had the McDonald's in our home town and seniors had a free lunch. My go to meal was a chicken sandwich with fries and a drink. There went the fries. Even back then I had a love of mashed potatoes. Mom and dad would usually serve those on Sundays. I had to let them pass right on by. And then there was the Pringles incident. My prom was a week or two before Easter. It was After Prom that got me though. Among the two liters of pop and other prizes I won, I had won about 5 containers of Pringles. Pringles are still some of my favorite chips. And here I had to wait before I could open and eat them. I actually remember that I messed up and ate a couple, before realizing in mid bite what I was doing. Whoops.

There have been several other items I've given up since then. I've given up pop a couple of times. One of those times I was working at Rock-A-Belly and the bartenders, knowing what I had given up, would make me a mixed fruit drink instead of my usual Dr. Pepper. One time one of the bartenders put club soda in it (which I still don't think of as pop), but after my first sip he ripped it out of my had insisting he make me a new. The second time I gave up pop was when I was working at Kriegers in St. Louis and drinking pop was what got me through some of my double shifts, but some how I managed to give it up. Even when I had to call it soda.

One year in college I gave up looking at and buying shoes. If you know me, this was a very hard thing to do. I can remember shopping with my friends and speed walking past the shoes so that I didn't have a chance to look. One of my grad AT's tortured me one day, by having all the other AT's help her pick out which pair of Shocks she should get. I mean, how rude. ;)

Two years ago I gave up Facebook. I had learned that I have a bored problem with Facebook. Whenever I get bored, I look on Facebook. I still do that to an extent today. I remember thinking that I should write down all the status updates I thought of during Lent, and 'post' them on my apartment wall. Then when Easter rolled around I could take a pic and ask why people weren't commenting on my wall. :p  I never got around to do that though.

Last year I gave up candy. Which wasn't my hardest, but since I was getting some of my meals from concession stands, it made the selection of supper choices quite a bit smaller. And probably healthier.

So that brings us to this year. It would be interesting to see what you are thinking that I've decided to give up this year. I'm guessing that most of you would be very wrong. I say most, because I have told some already. Drum roll please. This year I'm giving up my.... love seat recliner.  Love seat recliner? Yep that's right. Most of the time my choices just pop into my head, I'm guessing that would be God's little hint as to what he wants me to give up. The first thing that popped into my head was TV, but sadly I just can't do that yet. Maybe next year. Though giving up my most relaxing seat might limit my TV watching.

I have found these winter months, if you can call them that with this warmish temp, I have been sucked into a days of laziness because I don't want to leave my recliner.  So until Easter I am forcing myself not to sit in it. I do have a rocking chair and arm chair in the living room, plus there's even a floor. Imagine that! Freedom's not so sure about this arrangement however. While when I do sit on the floor I play with her more and have given her a much needed and unwanted trim. When I sit on my rocker or arm chair, there is not room for her on my lap comfortably. Though she still tries.

From those that I have told, I get a lot of strange looks. They have questioned me as to how this could bring me closer to God. My explanation to that is simple. Every time I want to sit there I think of why I can't and thus makes me think of God. And I believe/hope that giving up the recliner will make me more productive around the house. So far it has worked. I have almost all of my dishes done (that is a major accomplishment for me). I've had 'time' to catch up on some reading. I've put together a new lamp and started my first wood carving project. I believe that this is God's way of getting some of the sloth out of me. I am excited to see what the rest of the 40 days will bring.