Lent started on Wednesday, also known as Ash Wednesday.  It is 6 weeks of self-discipline (or repentance) before Easter Sunday (Christ’s Resurrection).  

During Lent, observants practice moderation, fasting, and self-denial.

I gave up chocolate once for Lent and it went on for 3 more years.  Imagine that!  No chocolate for 3 years!  Now, of course, my home is always stocked.  I sometimes even eat my oatmeal with chocolate chips, and LOTS of it.  It’s more like having oatmeal with my chocolate chips (vegan of course, since I’m dairy-free).  

Since then, I’ve done juice fast and such.  For other reasons than self-denial.

Now I’m not into dieting.  I Never diet.  But I do cherish those moments of self-discipline.  They Have changed my relationship with food.  I don’t reach for food to comfort me anymore.  I don’t much reach for anything but the Silence WithIn — whatever that might bring. 

I don’t much deny myself of suffering, for it doesn’t last.  Nothing lasts.  Life is made up of an abundance of everything.