To caveat this post – I, Lisa Gimbel, am not very religious, never really have been and don’t really see it in my future. However I am, or at least try to be, sympathetic to most, if not all religions, acknowledging the fact that they provide so much to so many people. Unfortunately, at times I may inadvertently say and do things that might be construed as sacrilegious…(My thoughts of stealing a hotel room bible is just one example… in my defense, I consider it one of the classic pieces of literature that I should probably read and I figured why spend money on something so readily available. That, plus from my understanding, the bibles are there to help spread the word of the Lord and what better way than to take Him home with me.)
My yearly tradition of giving something up for Lent might also fall into this category.
My entire exposure to Catholicism can be boiled down to a few Sunday outings to church, my dad’s stories of growing up with “penguins” and every Catholic person I know claiming to have more guilt laid upon them than anyone else. But needless to say, I find the idea and concept of Lent fascinating; if for nothing more than challenging yourself to give up something for 40 days and 40 nights…. Hey, I gave up eating four legged animals for 2 years just to see if I could (which come to find out I could…that is until I got a job at Toga’s sandwich shop and felt the need to try every sandwich on the menu. I am now a full blown four-legged animal lover…Mmmm, bacon.)
But I digress….
Every year, I try to give up something for Lent, and while most people claim my sacrifices don’t count, I have to counter that I am unselfishly giving up my right of choice, which in itself is huge.
One year in college I gave up bananas. I wasn’t a huge fan of bananas at the time and therefore thought it would be an accomplishable challenge. Unfortunately for me, whether it was the lack of potassium or bottle of Rum I had consumed, I gave in to my temptations on Day 38 while at a party after noticing a bunch of the beautiful yellow fruit on top of the refrigerator of some random apartment.
In my San Francisco hey-day, I gave up tequila shots after 10pm…yes, that is correct, tequila shots were forbidden, but only after the witching hour had arrived. This choice was more for health reasons given that my tequila in-take typically increased after 10pm and, on weekdays that didn’t always make for the most productive workday the following morning. Surprisingly, although tempted on numerous occasions, I was able to restrain myself and make it through the 40 days…The fact that my tequila in-take between 9:15 and 9:55pm increased significantly during those 40 nights is just a side note.
And this past year, after much consideration, I gave up Bud Light for the occasion. It originally began as Coors Light, but I figured that would be just a little too hard, even for me, so I settled on Coors Light’s second best. And of course, like all challenges, it wasn’t necessarily a smooth road to the finish. On St. Patrick’s Day, during hour 2 of the 8 hour marathon, I was informed by the bartender of the bar we had strategically posted up at, that they were out of Coors Light and my only two options were the $4 specials of Bud Light or the $8 Harps. It turned out to be one of my more expense nights on the town.
Twenty-five days later I was struck with another challenge which I heroically overcame. While on a trolley party for work (a moving bar that drives around the city on a city-wide pub crawl) my options were limited to Budweiser and Bud Light… I stuck with Bud Heavy and ended the night with a severely bruised foot. I am not sure if they are related, but if I had to guess....
At the end of 40 days and 40 nights, I am thankful to say that I made it through without giving into temptation (or convenience). And even better, I have not developed a strong liking for Bud Light…unlike my love of bananas which arrived only after giving them up for Lent.
Happy Easter!
My yearly tradition of giving something up for Lent might also fall into this category.
My entire exposure to Catholicism can be boiled down to a few Sunday outings to church, my dad’s stories of growing up with “penguins” and every Catholic person I know claiming to have more guilt laid upon them than anyone else. But needless to say, I find the idea and concept of Lent fascinating; if for nothing more than challenging yourself to give up something for 40 days and 40 nights…. Hey, I gave up eating four legged animals for 2 years just to see if I could (which come to find out I could…that is until I got a job at Toga’s sandwich shop and felt the need to try every sandwich on the menu. I am now a full blown four-legged animal lover…Mmmm, bacon.)
But I digress….
Every year, I try to give up something for Lent, and while most people claim my sacrifices don’t count, I have to counter that I am unselfishly giving up my right of choice, which in itself is huge.
One year in college I gave up bananas. I wasn’t a huge fan of bananas at the time and therefore thought it would be an accomplishable challenge. Unfortunately for me, whether it was the lack of potassium or bottle of Rum I had consumed, I gave in to my temptations on Day 38 while at a party after noticing a bunch of the beautiful yellow fruit on top of the refrigerator of some random apartment.
In my San Francisco hey-day, I gave up tequila shots after 10pm…yes, that is correct, tequila shots were forbidden, but only after the witching hour had arrived. This choice was more for health reasons given that my tequila in-take typically increased after 10pm and, on weekdays that didn’t always make for the most productive workday the following morning. Surprisingly, although tempted on numerous occasions, I was able to restrain myself and make it through the 40 days…The fact that my tequila in-take between 9:15 and 9:55pm increased significantly during those 40 nights is just a side note.
And this past year, after much consideration, I gave up Bud Light for the occasion. It originally began as Coors Light, but I figured that would be just a little too hard, even for me, so I settled on Coors Light’s second best. And of course, like all challenges, it wasn’t necessarily a smooth road to the finish. On St. Patrick’s Day, during hour 2 of the 8 hour marathon, I was informed by the bartender of the bar we had strategically posted up at, that they were out of Coors Light and my only two options were the $4 specials of Bud Light or the $8 Harps. It turned out to be one of my more expense nights on the town.
Twenty-five days later I was struck with another challenge which I heroically overcame. While on a trolley party for work (a moving bar that drives around the city on a city-wide pub crawl) my options were limited to Budweiser and Bud Light… I stuck with Bud Heavy and ended the night with a severely bruised foot. I am not sure if they are related, but if I had to guess....
At the end of 40 days and 40 nights, I am thankful to say that I made it through without giving into temptation (or convenience). And even better, I have not developed a strong liking for Bud Light…unlike my love of bananas which arrived only after giving them up for Lent.
Happy Easter!
