Lent-al Soup -- Or... What I Gave Up

Let me get a few things straight before I even think about writing this blog.

#1 -- I am NOT Catholic.
#2 -- I am not that religious. I have some basic spiritual beliefs about things and I believe in Christianity but I am not an avid church goer because of my issues with organized religion.
#3 -- Lent holds NO religious meaning to me.

Alright... now... with that said... I take part in Lent every single year. I give up three things and I deprive myself for the 47 day period. (Yes... do the math... Lent is actually 46 or 47 days. There are a variety of reasons why... including this crap about how you can have what you gave up every Sunday during Lent... there are seven Sundays in Lent... bringing the total to 40 days... the number most people associate with Lent. I say it's all crap and if you are going to give something up...give it up dammit.)

This year... I went with three pretty darn big things. Each of these things are major parts of my life... and it is usually a big deal to give up these things.

1. Soda -- Most people drink coffee in the morning... not me.. I drink soda. It provides me with my caffeine rush for the morning and throughout the day. Within the first 3 days of giving up soda, I had a humungous headache and noticed that I dragged a bunch. It was a tough sell, but now I am cleansing out my system and I am a much more pleasant person after some time of withdrawl.

2. Chocolate -- I love chocolate. If there are flavors of anything... chocolate is where I am going to go. Ice cream? Chocolate. Cake? Chocolate. Candy? Chocolate. This has been extremely difficult and I might lose a pound or two but what the heck!

3. Alcohol -- I don't drink excessively. I think the last time that I actually got drunk was a few years ago, but with the type of work that I do and with an active social life, I have plenty to drink. A beer here... or a glass of wine there... is all good. Giving up alcohol is always so amazing to friends and family. "Want a beer Smelmooo?"
"No thank you.... "
"Why not?"
"Lent... "
"Really? Wow... bless your heart... I didn't know you were religious..."
"I'm not... "
"Oh... ummmm...."
"Don't worry about it... there are bigger things to think about... than my not having a beer."

So... there you have it... I am a good person now... and hopefully... I will cleanse out my system a bit from some of the harsh things I was putting into it regularly... Wish me luck and I will see you on April 16th.