Having spent my school life in a Catholic boarding school, I am well acquainted with the lent. Lent is a 40 days period of repentance, reflection, and prayer beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter.
After staying in a lock down due to COVID for over a year, I have come to appreciate and value things more, as well as truly be grateful to be alive and healthy. So this year, in addition to giving up on chocolates, I added two more things. One, a gratitude journal. And two, reaching out to family and friends I had lost touch with for more than a decade. Despite initial hiccups, I managed to carry out my Lenten vows successfully and I couldn’t be happier.
My lent Experiences and takeaways:
- Gratitude journal
Keeping a gratitude journal was a wise decision but had challenging aspects. As simple as it looks, I found myself struggling to write it daily. What was especially difficult for me was that I had never maintained any journal before. At first it felt like a chore, but soon it became something I looked forward to everyday. It helped that I found myself enjoying the process after writing about various things held dear to me. COVID-19 made me understand how I’d admittedly took family, friends, and nature for granted. Of course, this being due to how lifestyles which were standard to us beforehand can change under certain conditions. Meeting family, friends, going to work, school, or even going out for a cup of coffee became thing of the past during a lockdown. I have come to appreciate the morning walks, sun, fresh air, birds chirping, and connecting with family which were overlooked until now. Writing journal entries became my daily morning ritual, but there were moments where I felt lazy or too busy to write. More simply, there was a constant struggle happening inside of me between good and evil forces. It was the Lenten commitment that kept me going and has resulted in a habit of writing every day that I strive to continue beyond lent.
2. Reconnecting
Reaching out to people after decades was not easy. Thoughts of getting a cold shoulder, lack of acknowledgment, or outright rejection kept coming and were quite unnerving. The devil in me made every attempt to discourage me from making calls in anticipation of failure. However, I gathered courage and reluctantly dialed away in anticipation. To my surprise, the responses were overwhelmingly positive. Most calls were filled with emotions like, surprise, joy and disbelief. I realized people are good-hearted but it’s their ego, rejection, fear, or people’s perception that stops them from taking the right action. One of my first calls was especially nerve-racking. In short, I was going through emotions of turmoil and I initially decided against calling, but my trembling fingers accidentally pressed the outgoing button. The call went through. I’d panicked, but before I could react any further, my call was answered. It was one of the most heartening conversations of my life. And it made me wonder how pride and ego ruin relationships. It’s not worth holding grudges, balancing scores, and stroking an ego. It’s rarely one person’s fault, so sometimes it is better to set aside our pride and let go. After, the action could result in one less thing to worry about. It’s worth a try to be in a happy place.
3. Resisting Temptation
Quitting chocolate for 40 days is hard if that’s your go-to snack. I definitely had my weak moments. Again, the devil was at work and encouraged me to surrender to the temptation of cheating or give up completely, but thanks to my weekly fasting ritual and practicing self discipline by limiting my social media use, I successfully finished my Lenten wows.
If it wasn’t for my decision to reconnect with lost connections and maintain a gratitude journal this Lent season would have felt like an extension of the sacrifices I was already making ( like many others) in a lockdown. I am so glad I made those decisions. My gains were much bigger than any loss I experienced. It was totally worth it.
