Happy lenten season!
Now, I am under no external religious obligation to take part in lent, but each year it rolls around and I often just go ahead and play along, thinking that it's probably a good thing to do.
And this year, it just snuck up on me. What? Yesterday was Ash Wednesday?! DANG, I totally missed Fat Tuesday!
So I've had to scramble to figure out my lenten sacrifice.
Anyway, this morning I went running. I left the house and left my neighborhood and was walking passed the next neighborhood over. It was about 5 a.m. It's pitch dark out. It's about 25 degrees and there's this crazy man standing on the corner.
At first I wasn't sure if it was a crazy man. Could've just been an oddly shaped evergreen because it was dark, and I suffer from myopia, and I refuse to wear glasses when I run because doing so makes me nauseous.
As I got closer, however, it became clear that it was a crazy man - or at least a crazy human - because it moved unlike the way an oddly shaped evergreen would move when there's no wind to speak of. All right, it's clearly a crazy person because normal people just aren't out at that time of morning.
As I got even closer, I noticed "baggage" near the crazy man's feet. Probably the chopped up remains of his victims since his latest escape from the Institution for the Criminally Insane. Great, this is how it's going down. I continued onward.
Eventually, I was within a few feet of him and the myopia wasn't so bad. He actually looked a little more sane looking than at first and the bags of victim's parts were a couple of quality-looking duffle bags. Maybe he was just waiting for his carpool. At that point, he noticed me, and from the look on his face, I'm sure he thought I was a murderous escapee from the Institution for the Criminally Insane. Normal people just aren't out at that time of morning.
"Good morning!", I offered in what I hoped was a sane sounding tone.
"Hello!", he chimed back in a very cheerful, friendly, non-murderous tone mixed in with a bit of relief that I was (probably) not the crazy murderous type.
Funny how that one word, spoken just so, can convey so much. The murderous crazy man on the corner was suddenly transformed into this fun, interesting person (uninteresting people just aren't out at that time of morning) whom I should invite for next Thanksgiving. Let's chuck our plans for running and carpooling and just go get a coffee, shall we?
Okay, we didn't.
My reason for describing this occurrence is that it was the impetus for getting me out of my lenten haze. I decided that I will give up negativity for lent.
Lately, I'd been irritated by negative people around me. Whiners, critics, uptights, etc. So, I've decided that I'm not going to let them irritate me anymore. Let them wallow, I choose not to.
Let the fast begin.
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6 comments:
THat is a hard one, I think I am going to give up zingers. I've not had one since about 85, but I think I will regive them up again.
My daughter asked me if we were abstaining from meat on Fridays for lent. We've not really been practicing Catholics for a while, so it just seems hypocritical. But Catholic or not, doing something charitable or giving up some sort of vice is probably a good practice. I should probably get on the bandwagon too.
Good luck with that one. With all of the whiners around, it will definitely test your resolve.
The best way I find to deal with those downers is to always be cheerful/positive. It my not make them any nicer/better, but it sure bugs the crap out of them.
good! that is an excellent choice - I hope you can maintain it.
I wonder if I would have made an immediate U-turn when I spotted the crazy person that turned out to be a polite, perky morning person. :)
Lent snuck up on me too, not that I ever give anything up. Haven't done so since Catholic school (I was baptized Catholic, but mom gave up that route after the divorce - am I still Catholic? Hmmm...)
I digress.
After writing all of this, maybe I should consider giving up SOMETHING!
Beautiful story!
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