Giving up sugar for Lent

Good morning and welcome to Tuesday!

OK, I can already tell it's going to be interesting...my fingers are moving faster than my computer can accurately keep up. Oh well, no matter. :)

So a few days ago, I was mulling the concept of "giving up something for Lent". One of my friends/students (Joey A) commented, and brought up the whole "New Year's" thing. For those of you that know me well, you know I think New Year's Resolutions are relatively worthless. There are nothing more than wishful thinking, in my opinion. You might as well "resolve" to win the lottery, then do what a lot of folks do...buy the occasional ticket now and then, whenever they think the jackpot is high enough to be "worth it".

Side note -- seriously? $25 million isn't "worth" taking a chance on, but $300 million is? Reminds me of an old W. C. Fields joke. He asks a lady if she would sleep with him for a million dollars. She said sure. He then asked her if she would sleep with him for a dollar. She was shocked, and replied, "Sir! What do you think I am?" To which he replied, "Madame, we have already established what you are...we are now simply negotiating the price."

But I digress (shiney!)

Back to New Year's resolutions. Resolutions have no "teeth" in them. But Revolutions. That's a different story. Revolutions are a radical departure from the status quo. That's how this country got started. It was a radical departure from the old concept of monarchy and colonialism. Granted, we've wandered around a bit, but nowhere else in the world has this method of government and society lasted so long. We, as a country, are the "odd duck" of the world. Sure...everybody "wants to be like us". Well, not true. They want our money, our lifestyle, etc., but they don't want to put in the 200+ years of hard work it took for us to create this thing. They want it handed to them. Usually by us.

BUT again...I digress.

Hence, my distaste for New Year's "resolutions". For those that have the strength, courage, integrity and perseverance to put into place New Year's "Revolutions", I say bully for you! Stay the course.

Now, let's talk about me. Because, as my dear friend Anne always says, "because it IS all about me."

I have tried the Revolutions thing. And have managed to fail miserably. I start out with great intentions, great accountability partners...and usually crash and burn sometime in the doldrums of February.

The ONLY time I have been successful at making a life-changing change (ok, that's a bit redundant), was last year when I decided to give up soda for Lent.

Here is how my brain got there. LENT is "only" 46 days. 40 days, if you don't count the Sundays. It's a finite period of time. It's not open-ended. I can see the end of the tunnel. And I can keep on-task by remembering what Grandmaster Yong Chin Pak would always say during a workout when the old guy in the corner (me) was sucking wind and ready to pass out... "10 more seconds. You can do anything for 10 seconds".

I have taken a lot of GM Pak's teaching to heart, but that particular one has become my mantra more times than I can count. Ask my wife. Heck, even if I step outside in the dead of winter without bothering to put a coat on. She will ask, "don't you need a coat?" And I will almost always reply, "nope. GM Pak taught me I can do anything for 10 seconds." Then she will say, "but wasn't that longer than 10 seconds?" And I will either reply "I was counting in Pak seconds" or "I just got to 10, then did it again."

Those that have been in one of GM Pak's workouts know what I mean by "Pak seconds". They can sometimes last forever! :)

Anyway, that's how I got through 46 days of Lent not having a soda. Whenever I would want one, I would remind myself, "You can do anything for 10 seconds." Then I would make the active choice NOT to have a soda. By the time I got to Easter, I was able to look back on 46 days without soda, recognize my success, and then decide if I wanted a soda or not. And I have really gotten out of the habit of soda. I have had about 12 since then. And really don't like the taste any more. "Regular" soda is too sweet, and diet soda tastes like licking the inside of a rusty tin can to me.

Which brings me to Lent 2017. This year? Processed/refined/added sugar. That one is going to be tougher, since it is prevalent in SO many foods. But again...I can do anything for 10 seconds.

My two cents worth today.