Ah Lent is upon us... which means for Christian folk 40 days of fasting. Then crucifixion, resurrection and if he sees his shadow it'll be 2,000 more years of guilt! (Apologies to Robin Williams)
Seriously though, I like to "fast" for Lent, which in this day in age means giving up something one loves as a sort of cleansing ritual, like Ramadan, except not quite as hardcore. In Ghana, they take Ramadan quite seriously, although I'm not so sure about Lent, since it's more or less indigenous to the Catholic faith...
Regardless, I had a difficult time finding something that 1) meant something to me, as an improvement upon myself and 2) that could be realistically done during Lent. For example, I could give up my beloved Fan Ice, but that is my only source of calcium. Or, I could take up running, but I'm already doing that. Can you see the dilemma?
After a long, hard discernment (i.e. 2 days), I decided on alcohol. As enjoyable as it is, it adds nothing to my well-being and is non-essential to my existence (save for holy wine). Thus, for 40 days, I'll go without and enjoy myself.
Now, there will be two exceptions: the first is my birthday, since it's my birthday and we've already planned going to Ryan's Irish Pub. The second is St. Patrick's Day, again because it's St. Patrick's Day. Is this a cop-out? Perhaps, but the rest of the time won't be a cakewalk.
Test #1: Tonight was trivia night at Champs, which brought back Reach for the Top memories. Our team did so well that we not only won the challenge (which entitled us to 300,000 cedi of alcohol), but also won the tequila bonus round. What did I have to drink last night? A milkshake. And I'll bet you didn't know that Champs makes fantastic milkshakes.
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I was reflecting today on how many more useless facts about Canadian politics, the British monarchy, and Canadian literature I have accumulated in the past two years...Man, would our team kick ass today! Now all we have to do is buy a time machine off the internet and we'll cruise to the TV round!
Glo-ry days, dah dun duh duh, dah dun duh dah.
Maybe I'll come back like Apollo Creed in Rocky IV, just when it looks like the team is ready to quit, and I'll toughen them up for regionals. but then I'll get sucked into a fatal...um...4-on-1 game against the UTS all-stars, and then they'll go onto win the championship in my memory. It'll be for all our boys in Afghanistan.
-GK
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