Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Lent

image from rhodiadrive.com


'tis the season to be Holy.

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lenten Season for all Roman Catholics around the world. Growing up, we were taught to practice two things during this 40-day period: Abstinence and Fasting.

Abstinence, according to Wikipedia (God's gift to information junkies), is defined as a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. (The article also mentions that the term most frequently refers to sexual abstinence, but we won't go there. Those are silly things 18-year-olds like myself would rather not talk about.) Fasting, on the other hand, is when one willingly abstains from all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. 

Back in elementary up until high school, we were highly encouraged to practice the former but were told that we were exempted from the latter, being under 18 and all. Unfortunately, that mindset stuck and I'm guilty of still exempting myself every Lenten season. This could be due to three things: 1) I'm still in denial (I mean, who could ever get used to being more than a quarter-year old); 2) I still think - fine, and act - like a minor; 3) I actually don't have a third. I need to count in threes; I'm obsessive-compulsive like that. 

However, since part of getting this blog active means changing my habits, I am now determined to practice both. To make it official, I'm putting them on here. 

For abstinence, three things (again): 1) from Laziness, 2) from Procrastination, 3) from Negativity. I tend to combine these three occasionally, especially when it comes to working out (and studying, though I've been working on that for the past few weeks already. Yay!). I keep on putting things off, convincing myself that I'll get to moving "bukas na talaga, pramis!" Well, enough is enough IS ENOUGH! (For more echos with feelings) Time to get my ass moving since summer is just around the corner. My friends and I have actually committed ourselves to something we call the #BoracayFitnessProgram (Hellerrr syempre may hashtag) We have to get fit by April since we'll be going to the Beach Party Capital of the Philippines. I honestly don't want to be walking around feeling all insecure while a number of sexy-ass women in tiny bikinis pass me by, flaunting their flat bellies with pa-abs effect. Hindi pwedeng sila lang! Gusto ko ako din! So, today I did a solid 5k with a few high knee runs and tuck jumps in between. I plan on working out at least every other day until I'm bikini-ready, too!

For fasting, the usual. Friday is "no meat" day, as well as eating just one full meal for the day. I tried to do this last year, to no avail. This time, I'm not setting the pig in me free. It's only for 40 days, so I'm thinking it won't be that bad.


Of course, as mentioned earlier, all this should and will be given as sacrifice for the Lord. He is, after all, the reason for all this, so I'm quite positive that with His guidance and strength, I'll follow through.

Here's to hopefully keeping this up! Good luck to all my fellow Catholics who plan on abstaining and fasting this season as well. :)

Peace!

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