My original intent for this goofy column was to quickly share things I was thinking about when I should have been thinking about more intense work stuff. For a professional writer, more writing is always the answer. Some people like stream-of-consciousness fare, and some don't. My assumption was that anyone who had been reading me for a while was on board with it.
The reason that I haven't written these as frequently as I originally wanted to is that I have been overthinking most of the time I start one. Then I bail. Well, I've had it with the overthinking and the bailing.
In the immortal words of Roberto Durán: "No más."
I should probably acknowledge the fact that I will never give up beer for Lent again. It doesn't matter if a doctor says it will kill me, I'm not spending another St. Patrick's Day Guinness-free. I can almost hear my 19th-century Irish ancestors judging me from their graves. I'll do Sober October every year just to be able to drink Guinness when family tradition demands it.
OK, enough sober whining.
One of the big benefits to all of this Lenten discipline of mine doesn't have much at all to do with my spiritual life. For several months now, I have been trying to completely overhaul my work schedule. I thought I was getting on track when my last Michigan trip was wrapping up, then I got home, got on the scale, and discovered that I weighed slightly less than an adolescent elephant. I'm not part of the body positivity crowd, mostly because I know what causes heart attacks, so it was time to take control of my health again. That added more to my daily schedule.
The extra Lent-related items on my daily to-do list focused my scheduling priorities in a way that seemed almost magical, for me, anyway. If I was going to get everything done, the daily planning had to be precise. I'm kind of an all-over-the-place creative; precision in anything other than comedic timing has never been a strong suit. Thankfully, the overwhelming desire to have an intentional Lent added a little to my skill set.
When I finish plotting out my day now, the list is about twice as long as it used to be. That's because all of that crazy prayer and spiritual reading time has helped me focus better on work. My St. Patrick's Day Guinness complaint was really more about being on-brand than anything else. Honestly, giving up booze for Lent hasn't been difficult. I hadn't been drinking much lately thanks to my fitness journey, but cutting out even that little bit has helped me sleep better.
The best Lent I've had in years, more energy, better work scheduling — that's something to drink to.
Not until Easter weekend, of course.
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