5-Things Wednesday: Lenten Hopes

So, I feel that I have been slacking in writing on this blog. In documenting the adventures in my life. Or, I didn't think there are major adventures to write about. Or, more importantly, I have been failing to recognize the many little and not-so-little things that happen every week, that are still the building blocks of my life, and to be grateful for those. Maybe if I lived more in the moment of those everyday things, the life won't seem like it's been flying by pass me, like it felt lately.

I thought to give this a try: To have a "theme" once a week to give me a nudge to write about something here more often. The idea is that the topic would change every week, but it would be in a sets of five; Five topics, five subtopics, five quotes, the best five moments of the week, five recopies... you get the idea.

We'll see how well I keep with it, but I am willing to give it a try. So lets see....

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the start of 40 days of Lent. I got this 5-things idea on Ash Wednesday, so even though I am writing about it the day after, I have this one count. (I actually didn't want to spend time blogging yesterday) To be fair, the idea was planted from several blogs that I follow that have themes of "number something" repeating every so often.

So, this week, I'll talk about my five hopes for this Lent. Lent is the season of preparation for the celebration of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection through the works of penance, that is, prayer, fasting and almsgiving. 

1. I'll start with Fasting. Most people would first think of food when hearing the word fasting, but we can fast from many things. Fasting from food for me would not be much of a penance, anyway, as I not so rarely would go a whole day at work without eating anything. If anything, I need to force myself to eat regularly, but that's a different topic. I do hope to make myself drink more water throughout the day to boost my energy level. Really, thinking about eating is like a chore to me and healthy habits like a penance.
One thing, though, that I felt I indulge too much in is the computer, and most specifically - Facebook. I would log in several times a day to make sure I keep up with Every Single Update on my wall. Which is why I am going completely off of Facebook during Lent. I let my FB friends know that I won't be using it so they don't think I am ignoring them if I don't respond. I changed the profile picture to "off the air". And I even removed the Facebook link from my web browser favorites bar, so I am not tempted to click on it. I hope to better use that time (see next #s) that I was spending on the social networking site.

2. During the next 6 weeks of Lent, I hope that I find some balance in my life again and find time to Prayer again. I picked up again this Lenten reflections printout I used in previous years, but I am not too happy with it. I am going to look for some updated version that has more meaning for me at this point in time. I also hope to go to a weekly Mass once a week. I am not saying "at least once", because I didn't want to set that goal "too" high (I've done that before) to something I knew I was not going to keep up with by week two. I went yesterday during lunch time, and felt a sense of peace in those oddly comforting words:  "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." They bring a real perspective on the problems in my life I make into mountains.

3. A colleague at work just a couple of days ago sent an email about getting a group together to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. What a great idea for alms giving, I thought, and I hope it turns out to be a repeat project, so I signed up. Still not sure what date exactly we will be starting. And today I found out that the house I helped build the last time with HforH is complete and they will have a dedication ceremony on March 3rd. 

4. The ashes we received on Ash Wednesday on our foreheads I always understood as a symbol of penance, to help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice. But yesterday on radio I heard a new analogy for the ashes. I can't actually remember all the quotes, or any quotes (maybe they said "Felix rose from the ashes" and how Jesus raised dead from the ashes - although that's not really accurate). But basically what I got out of it is that when we think that our life is in the ashes, if we let Him, God can raise us up. And maybe that somehow goes back to that "Remember that you are dust..." - the dust, the ashes I feel my life is in right now, God can help me rise out of. And with that new perspective, today was already better than yesterday. So, instead of seeing so many negative things, I hope to focus on the positive in my life, to be more cheer and optimistic. Just seeing all these "hopes" in here makes me chuckle. :)

5. And finally, I hope to keep up with this 5-Things thing, now that I am not wasting all my free computer time on Facebook. So far, so good!