I am not religious by any means, and Christianity is no exception (yet I capitalize it…). I have, however, picked up a different philosophy over the last year or so, I dubbed it the Philosophy of the Wheel. I might write something about that later or maybe not. The central idea however is movement, flexibility, self-improvement and self-control. Thus it happens that I stumbled a few months ago upon the Christian concept of ‘Lent’. And I liked it.
Funny enough, although I am raised in what is basically a Christian nation, I never heard the term before. A quick Wikipedia search quickly provided with an adequate explanation. Read up on it here if you so wish, although this is not necessary to understand the rest of this article. Summarized; Lent is the Christian fasting period of time lasting 40 days. ‘Fasting’ however, is rather complex during Lent and has also changed significantly over the years. Therefore, I am not going to outline the historical fasting customs and religious blabla surrounding it. Instead, I will merely explain my own interpretation.
The beginning and end dates of Lent vary every year, must like the Muslim Ramadan. This year the fasting starts tomorrow, the 6th of February (and Ash Wednesday for the observant) and lasts till the 10th of March (Maundy Thursday). Now I interpretate Lent as a test of will power and self-control. Seeing as I like both of these things it was a quick decision to join in on the Christian fun this year. To elaborate, regard this extract from the mentioned Wikipedia page:
Many modern Protestants consider the observation of Lent to be a choice, rather than an obligation. They may decide to give up a favorite food or drink (e.g. chocolate, alcohol) or activity (e.g. going to the movies, playing video games) for Lent, or they may instead decide to take on a Lenten discipline such as devotions, volunteering for charity work, and so forth.
Very well, this means something must be given up and I would not consider myself to have willpower if this would only stop at a single thing.
Now here is in fact where I am hinting at; I have asked around and found only one likeminded individual (Evil) who would join me in Lent, I no longer consider the others strong-minded people by the way. Hence I would ask anyone reading this (hopefully before tomorrow) to consider my humble proposal and see if you really have what it takes to call yourself strong of will.
“Very well then, unknown anonymous internet person, I have decided to join your ridiculous test for no reason at all”.
Excellent, now as I mentioned before, the Lent rules of old are rather complex, varied and pointless. On the other hand I found the modern ‘rules’ (cited above) to be too easy and simple. Hence I have thought this over strongly and used a compilation of both to create my own set of rules. I present;
Vicious Lent
No candy of any kind. This means none at all. No sweets, no chocolate, no cookies, no chips, nothing. When in doubt, look at the ingredients label; if it says it contains more than 400 kcal per 100g you shouldn’t eat it.
Eat healthy. This means no candy, but you shouldn’t do that anyway. It also includes fast food and anything related. Basically I want you to actually go to the grocery store, buy ingredients and make yourself a balanced meal of vegetables, meat and potatoes or rice or something.
No alcohol of any kind. Simple enough.
Drink healthy. No carbonated drinks, no soda’s, no whatever your language calls the sweet crap. Drink water, tea or coffee instead. But don’t overdo these. Except water of course, water is always good.
Give up something I like to do. Notice that I particularly mention an activity, any sort of food you really like should be covered by ‘No candy’ and ‘Eat healthy’. Personally, I think I might have spend too much time on videogames lately and I will quit these.
Pick up something you might like to do or want to improve in. This is a rather vague one. What I am hinting at is self-improvement. For most people I would recommend exercise. Pick up a gym membership or if you’re smart/handy enough improvise around the home. If you already exercise sufficiently, do it more. If you already exercise a lot, consider picking up a different skill, juggling might be a good idea if you’re really out of inspiration. Personally, I have picked up a musical instrument the other day and I will use the time cleared by quitting gaming to practice on this. Also, although I already exercise a lot, I will increase my workout anyway.
If you are still reading this, there are a couple of different things you might feel. First of all you could feel excited and think “sounds like a challenge, fun”. This is the good one, I found this is in fact an excellent mindset to have for everything everywhere. You might feel “why on earth would I do that”. If this is your train of thought, ask yourself this; ‘do I have a strong mind?’. If you answer ‘yes’, consider this a test. If it is ‘no’, re-evaluate your life, I’m not kidding here. If you think “why the fuck should I listen to some dude on the internet for anything considering my life and how I live it?”. You have a point, but I would like you to redirect you to the previously mentioned question considering the amount of will power you might think you have. I guarantee that instantly transforming to a healthy diet is not as easy as it may sound, and saying no to that beer or bowl of crisps at a party will be a challenge. Finally, if you are apathic about it all, go fuck yourself.
There you have it, I feel I am done informing you to the best of my ability and mind right now. If you feel you might have an unhealthy lifestyle this could be the little push for change that could quite transform you forever (never, ever underestimate the effect of food and exercise on your body and mind). If not, consider it a challenge.
I know I will.
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