One Little Elephant

Lent ends today. Time to take inventory (and fess up). Here's how it went:

Eschewing TV

This was difficult at first, but grew progressively easier. By week three I'd forgotten about TV as better things filled the void. I regret the evenings wasted on that silly box in the past, but since I don't feel even a wisp of anticipation that I'll soon be free to watch it again, I'm hopeful Lent has triumphed over this vice.

Surrendering the Dr. Pepper

This was hard, hard, hard from the beginning. Did it get easier? NO!!!! But I stood wobbly-kneed against temptation. Lent ends today and I wish I could say it conquered this vice, but the fact that my insides are wriggling with puppyish joy at the thought of a Dr. Pepper tells me it's not so. Still, there was value in this Lenten abstinence because it made me acknowledge my human weakness and my need for God's strength.

Relinquishing daytime web surfing and email checking

This was at once a great failure and a tremendous success. Failure because I broke this Lenten promise on repeated occasions.

Sometimes I broke it for valid reasons like finding the one pharmacy in town that could fill hubby's prescription when he was very ill or turning in an application for a large scholarship my son only learned he was eligible for on the last day he could apply(he got it!).

Sometimes I broke it when habit intersected with carelessness. If I didn't throw the internet cord over the curtain rod there was a good chance that when I took a break from writing I'd access the internet simply from habit. I'd be surfing before I realized it. This taught me that changing bad habits requires more than good intentions. It also requires altering my environment.

And finally, sometimes I failed to keep this Lenten promise out of simple sinfulness.

Yet despite those failures, I also had tremendous success. I realized the internet is not nearly as entertaining as reading a good book on my shady front porch. It's not nearly as satisfying as snuggling with my husband or laughing with my teens. It's not nearly as gratifying as getting a scene written or the laundry done. When day passed into evening and I could fetch that cord down off the curtain rod, I found myself tending to get on the web, get whatever I needed done, and get off again. Living life became more attractive than surfing through it. I call that success.

So that's the Lenten wrap up. But what does it have to do with writing? Disposing of the vices that keep me bound mentally, physically, socially, or spiritually sets me free to write better and to live better. I only addressed three of that original list of fifteen, but today life is better (in at least three ways) because I did.


Something that's helping me write today: This question which I taped on the wall beside my desk many years ago and still read several times a day. What have you done in the past hour to improve/enrich your life or the lives of others?