“I hope that anyone choosing to partake in Lent does so as an opportunity, not a sacrifice. Sacrifice is overrated. Don’t you see all that you gain from removing the things you don’t need? That is no sacrifice.”

~Aisha1908 via Twitter~

Many of my friends have been excited about the things that they were planning on giving up in observance of Lent. For those of you, who aren’t familiar:

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. All churches that have a continuous history extending before AD 1500 observe Lent. The ancient church that wrote, collected, canonized, and propagated the New Testament also observed Lent, believing it to be a commandment from the apostles. (See The Apostolic Constitutions, Book V, Section III.)

The Season of Lent

As my peeps listed their usual vices (sex, drugs and rock&roll) (meat, the occasional sip of alcohol and sweets), some asked if me if I planned on participating. I never have, which is odd because everybody knows that I’m always down for a reflective, spiritual program. But the idea of taking away something that I enjoy in remembrance of the period, for the sake of tradition – ESPECIALLY, when it’s not done with the intent of fasting, praying, self-reflection, etc (which most people tend to skip) never appealed to me.

But when I saw Aisha’s tweet, I realized that I am participating my own personal Lent period of sorts. I’m going through a “shedding” phase. I don’t feel as though I’m necessarily giving up or sacrificing anything. But what I do know is that during this period, I am focusing on shedding every situation, energy, or thought that leaves me feeling less than 100%.  Shedding is vastly different from sacrifice, because sacrifice implies that it is a pleasure or treat that you are denying yourself.

Shedding means that you outgrowing your old skin, discarding it for something better.  People around me may begin to notice subtle changes – some good, some not so good depending on their perception of my interaction with them.  And that’s OK.  Because part of feeling 100% means that I have the opportunity to be emotionally selfish if I need to be. If I notice that my interactions with a person cause me to feel on any level less than my best, I’m simply walking away – no evaluation, no remorse, no worry.

I don’t consider that sacrificing – like giving up a cupcake or a Chick-fil-a or GRITS *biting nails*.  Simply taking the opportunity during this period to gently remove myself from all things that cause me to go o_O or *_*. If I don’t do something, my eyes might just stick like that. So let’s just say, in the spirit of preserving my beauty, I’m choosing to exfoliate. And just like in nature, when the shedding process is complete – the end result is always a brighter, clearer, better version of what was already there.