Lent - the metaphysical way!

I grew up Catholic, so Lenten Observations were de rigeur during childhood. Now that I no longer claim that particular church as my home, I still find myself drawn to the practice of abstaining from something that is important to you, in hopes of becoming more appreciative of what you already have. I've watched my Muslim friends go for the entire period of Ramadan without food or water during the day, and have seen how it can strengthen one's faith and character, and know that anytime one does something that changes your focus, it can be a very good thing.

But changing that focus from what you CAN'T have to what you CAN is easier said than done.

I've given up meat. Since I'm still allowing myself fish on Fridays, I guess that makes me a pescatarian rather than a vegetarian, but still, it's veggie heaven for me, at least for the next 40 days. My spiritual mentor became a vegetarian after he began seriously studying religion and metaphysics, stating that the karmic load for most meat is just too much to deal with, and it seems to work well for him. I'll be curious to see how I fare during these next few weeks.

Instead of lamenting the lack of lard, I'll embrace the loads of leaves out there. I'm also doing an internal cleanse, accompanied by a variety of other healing methods. This includes leaving behind my Southern Living at HOME business and all of the negative stuff that came with that. I'm keeping the positive experiences from it, though, of which there were many. I'm also releasing much of my cluttered paperwork, though that is almost harder to do than giving up my cheeseburger.

So, for now, I'll pretend that all animals are sacred cows. I'll give thanks for the bounty of our harvests, and enjoy the gratitude that each meal brings. And who knows? Maybe I'll even lose a few pounds! :-)