This year, for the second year, I am attempting to give up soft drinks for Lent. Though I've really limited my intake since college--because they make me gain weight faster than anything and I can feel the cavities forming--I definitely partake often enough that going without for more than a month is going to be difficult. (Maybe I should have given up run on sentences.)
Last year, I came really close to completing my goal, until I felt faint on a flight and had to drink ginger ale. It took me two years to successfully give up pizza, so hopefully the second year is the charm, yet again.
Keeping with the tradition of Fat Tuesday, I gorged myself on Pepsi today. At lunch I bought a 2-liter bottle, kept it under my desk, and then just refilled my glass as needed. (Can we say, classy?) By 4:00 I felt like my teeth were rotting out of my skull, had to use the bathroom every ten minutes, and had a serious case of the giggles. So while right now I never want to touch the stuff again, in a week my feelings will have changed.
Though typically the domain of Catholics, the Baptists I knew in college were frequent participants, and I started trying to participate as well. And despite my general failings at organized religion the majority of the year, I do think Lent is really important. I know that abstaining from something for 40 days doesn't erase what I do, or don't do, the other 325. And that giving up something as simple and first-world as a food item is so small compared to so much else. But it serves as a constant reminder of something greater than myself. Someone greater than myself. That's all.
So if you see me reach for a Pepsi in the next month, feel free to knock it from my hand or tackle me to the ground. Or maybe you can just drink one for me? Is that allowed?
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