This Wednesday, March 4th, is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. For 40 days, Catholics around the world are invited to make religion a larger part of their lives as we count down to Easter. There are many special programs, prayer groups, and suggestions for how to spend the 40 days of Lent, but the act of giving something up for Lent is one of the most popular.

In our hectic lives, the act of giving something up is usually a throw-away, like the thousands of New Year's Resolutions we've begun and discarded over the years. We start out with the best of intentions, but after a week or two, life usually intervenes and we're back to our old habits without a ripple of protest.

Even if you're not Catholic, the 40 days of Lent could be a starting point for something new in your life as well as giving something up that might not be as healthy as we'd like. I invite you to join me, even if you're not Catholic, in writing out a list of 40 and sticking to it until Easter.

Before beginning your list of 40, sit down and seriously think about the time you have to spare. Do you really have enough time to do an hour's worth of exercise every morning before work? Is it smart to write down no snacks between meals if you don't eat well during meals? If you end up with a list of 40 that is too long, involved, and time-consuming, you'll take one look at it and run the other way. Start small. Remember your limitations. Coming up with 40 items might be difficult, but persevere and by the end of 40 days, you'll have made a good start for Spring.

My List of 40:

1. Only fruit or vegetables as snacks between meals.
2. I'm not giving up chocolate completely, but I'm allowing myself one piece a week.
3. Finish Full Moon
4. Finish the rewrite of The Dead Who Do Not Sleep
5. Continue to be on time for work every day, barring weather emergencies
6. Start my day with writing, when my alarm goes off at 5am. I don't have to get out of bed to write. (n/a, so I did something else I've been wanting to do.)
7. Finish cleaning/organizing the bedroom
8. Finish cleaning/organizing the office
9. No caffeine after 8pm, that's what herbal tea is for, after all!
10. Weather permitting, take a walk every day, or do 1/2 hour of yoga.
11. Make sure the dishes are done every night (even if I have to do them every day.)
12. Weather permitting, visit storage and remove the items I've been waiting to remove since December.
13. Format Blood and Summer
14. Put away clean clothes once a week
15. Format Heart's Desire and Fire and Water
16. Continue to pay off bills, since everything is caught up now!
17. Try to pay six months of car insurance at once (if I can swing it.)
18. Put money in savings account every paycheck.
19. Stick to my goal of spending only $20 on a treat for myself every pay, if I have something in mind.
20. Finish paperwork for Mom
21. Catch up on Planet Relish rejection letters (yes, I admit; I'm behind about two weeks.)
22. Design cover for The Ninth Guest or get a firm date on when Emily will have it finished.
23. Work on getting my printer to work with my computer. (I'm having setup problems.)
24. Post tea rose dishes on ebay
25. Don't buy anything from ebay (unless it has to do with #19)
26. Create an Excel spreadsheet for submissions, or something in Access
27. Clean out my inbox, reply to all pertinent emails.
28. Upload the article/essay I have sitting on the Visor to my webpage
29. Find something to be thankful for every single day, but repeats aren't allowed.
30. Update template of stick-to-itiveness
31. Update template of WordCount actually, did this twice
32. Order flowers and herb seeds for the part of the garden I'm taking over (Could be a #19)
33. Finish balling new yarn.
34. Stick to the "one day out a week" for lunch.
35. Stop complaining about things too small to really matter.
36. Plan ahead for the nights I fix supper.
37. Update the archives page for DisOrganization
38. Provided I get #23 to work, buy a toner cartridge for my printer.
39. Either find the afghan in storage and continue it, or start a new one.
40. Focus on what I can do, not on what I cannot do.


Some of the things on my list are five minute things; other will take the entire 40 days to accomplish. I'm posting this list here alone, and I'll cross off what I complete throughout the 40 days. Stay tuned.