Uh-oh, Lent's coming again. Really soon. What am I going to do this year?
For some reason, everytime I realise Lent's just around the corner it sends me into a mild state of panic. What should I give up? Should I do something instead? I just don't know!!!
Okay, calm. This is not a time to panic, this is a time of purification, of sanctification.
A time to try and make yourself a better person.
Think New Years Resolution, but better (well, actually I've never been a huge one for NY resolutions, so that's not much of a comparison for me...)
It's a time to look at your life. What are you overly attached to? What do you feel like you couldn't cope without? Material things? Food? Maybe it's time to try and deal with that attachment.
Traditionally for Lent you should participate in fasting, prayer and almsgiving.
Fasting:
I've already done a post on one idea for fasting, although of course there's always the ever popular giving up chocolate or cigarettes or whatever may take your fancy.
I've already given up quite a lot lately in terms of food, but this Lent I'm going to try and make sure I only snack on food I've made myself. It should be healthier, I'll hopefully lose some more weight, and save some money. And, of course, while I'm busy making food with my own hands, I can spend more time being thankful for the food I have, for the kitchen in which I can make it, and for the very fact that I'm able to make food.
Almsgiving:
Almsgiving is giving to the poor. Donating to charity. Doing something out of kindness.
So this could be a good opportunity for taking something up. Perhaps you could find a local soup kitchen and donate some time there. Perhaps you could just give some money to charity. Next time you walk past a homeless person in the street you could offer to buy them some food or give them a coffee?
This Lent I'm going to try and do at least one RAK (random act of kindness) per day. I've no idea what they will be right now, but I shall try and keep the blog updated with what they are and how I do.
Prayer:
As one of my 30 before 30 is to try and say morning and evening prayer every day for a month, Lent seems like the perfect time to start. Mind you, I say this often, and often fail fairly quickly, so let's find out whether having told you guys I'm going to do this will give me the encouragement I need.
As an additional thing, and I may do a fuller post on this in the future, lately I've been feeling a pull in my heart towards veiling during Mass and in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Whether this will be a long term thing I really do not know, but to help with my discernment, I have decided to ensure my head is covered whenever I go to church during Lent.
There are some fabulous blog posts around regarding this topic, and I've linked to a few of my favourites below:
http://www.lauramcalister.com/2013/07/16/should-i-veil-a-debate-between-me-my-brain/ - This pretty much feels like where my brain is at right now.
http://www.conversiondiary.com/2013/02/notes-from-beneath-the-veil.html
http://chastityproject.com/2014/05/veiled-sake-angels/
So how about you? what are your plans for this Lent?
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 February 2015
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Are you woman enough to give up makeup?
So this post from Life Teen on 102 things to give up for Lent came up on my newsfeed the other day and it got me thinking.
Now some of the things on the list I don't do anyway (spitting gum onto the pavement? Disgusting), so obviously can't give up, Others on there I don't feel like I need to give up (I mean Pizza? come on - and I don't eat it much anyway on account of the whole funny diet thing).
One or two of them were things I regularly do anyway. I regularly give up (most) makeup for lent, restricting myself to concealer, mascara (or for special occasions - although then I make myself have the mentality that it's the same as putting on pretty clothes. It's to look different to normal, not because I don't like the way I look.
This is something that I think we, as women, particularly in the modern world, struggle with a lot. And I used a huge number of commas in that sentence. My GCSE teacher would not be happy with me... Anyway, yes. Struggle. We are told so often that we have to look perfect. We have to look beautiful and totally put together at all times. If we're having a bad hair day, or have a breakout, or are larger than a size 8, or have an unusually shaped nose, we're just not good enough.
I went through the whole of my school career hating my hair. People constantly mocked me for it, and it has taken me a long time to come to terms with it. Even now I tend to have it tied up a lot if I don't feel like it's perfect when it's down - fun side of that though is that I've learnt a lot of new things to do with my hair, so it's getting to the point where I tie my hair up because I like the way it looks. For those of you who know me though, it's worth saying that this has never applied to the colour of my hair. I like my natural hair colour, I just prefer the various shades of red it's been over the past 7 1/2 years...
It's so easy to look in a mirror and point out your flaws, but that's not how we should be living. My eyes are too small, my nose is too big, my pores are too visible, the shadows under my eyes are too dark. Maybe if I slather my face in makeup these faults will be hidden and people won't notice.
The whole "no-makeup selfie" thing actually made me really sad. The idea that people are having to be brave to post a photo of themselves without makeup on is just... well, is that really how life should be?
I find that, from time to time, particularly if I've been wearing a lot of makeup regularly, I get to a point where I'm wearing makeup because I don't like the way my face is without it. The first time I really noticed this was shortly before lent one year, so I figured, since lent is the perfect time to give up things you are overly attached to, it was the perfect thing to give up that year. I've pretty much repeated the practise every year.
So here's my question. How attached to your makeup are you? Do you wear makeup because you prefer the way you look with it or because you don't like the way you look without it. If the answer is a completely honest yes to the first part, then feel free to carry on. If the latter, then maybe this is an area of your life you should look at.
Maybe this is the year you challenge yourself to be woman enough to give up makeup for lent and learn to love yourself for who you truly are.
Hmm... this post went in a completely different direction to how I originally planned, so I shall just have to do another one soon!
Now some of the things on the list I don't do anyway (spitting gum onto the pavement? Disgusting), so obviously can't give up, Others on there I don't feel like I need to give up (I mean Pizza? come on - and I don't eat it much anyway on account of the whole funny diet thing).
One or two of them were things I regularly do anyway. I regularly give up (most) makeup for lent, restricting myself to concealer, mascara (or for special occasions - although then I make myself have the mentality that it's the same as putting on pretty clothes. It's to look different to normal, not because I don't like the way I look.
This is something that I think we, as women, particularly in the modern world, struggle with a lot. And I used a huge number of commas in that sentence. My GCSE teacher would not be happy with me... Anyway, yes. Struggle. We are told so often that we have to look perfect. We have to look beautiful and totally put together at all times. If we're having a bad hair day, or have a breakout, or are larger than a size 8, or have an unusually shaped nose, we're just not good enough.
I went through the whole of my school career hating my hair. People constantly mocked me for it, and it has taken me a long time to come to terms with it. Even now I tend to have it tied up a lot if I don't feel like it's perfect when it's down - fun side of that though is that I've learnt a lot of new things to do with my hair, so it's getting to the point where I tie my hair up because I like the way it looks. For those of you who know me though, it's worth saying that this has never applied to the colour of my hair. I like my natural hair colour, I just prefer the various shades of red it's been over the past 7 1/2 years...
It's so easy to look in a mirror and point out your flaws, but that's not how we should be living. My eyes are too small, my nose is too big, my pores are too visible, the shadows under my eyes are too dark. Maybe if I slather my face in makeup these faults will be hidden and people won't notice.
The whole "no-makeup selfie" thing actually made me really sad. The idea that people are having to be brave to post a photo of themselves without makeup on is just... well, is that really how life should be?
I find that, from time to time, particularly if I've been wearing a lot of makeup regularly, I get to a point where I'm wearing makeup because I don't like the way my face is without it. The first time I really noticed this was shortly before lent one year, so I figured, since lent is the perfect time to give up things you are overly attached to, it was the perfect thing to give up that year. I've pretty much repeated the practise every year.
So here's my question. How attached to your makeup are you? Do you wear makeup because you prefer the way you look with it or because you don't like the way you look without it. If the answer is a completely honest yes to the first part, then feel free to carry on. If the latter, then maybe this is an area of your life you should look at.
Maybe this is the year you challenge yourself to be woman enough to give up makeup for lent and learn to love yourself for who you truly are.
Hmm... this post went in a completely different direction to how I originally planned, so I shall just have to do another one soon!
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