Lent

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  Many people give things up for Lent, but this year I'm thinking of doing things a little differently.  In past years I have given up numerous things: meat, chocolate, candy, coke, and the like.  Giving them up made me a grumpier, less-likeable me...that is not what Lent is about.

This Lent, my plan is to incorporate into my life that which brings me closer to the best version of me.  I am not sure everything this entails, as I am sure that some of the things I choose to do will come to me during the course of the Lenten season.  However, I do know a few things right off the bat that I am going to try to do better:  I am going to go to mass every Sunday instead of the ones where I am not too busy with work.  I am going to pray more for myself and others, especially the people who make me angry.  I will get enough sleep.  I will try to always see the positive side of things, even on the worst days.  I will argue less and hug more.  I will learn to (correctly) pray the rosary and try to make it a habit.

So many people see Lent as a season of denial, of sacrifice, of suffering, and of waiting.  While it is these things, it is also a season of awakening, of wonder, of forgiveness, and of becoming something better than we were.  Moving toward the best version of ourselves.