Lent Reflection

Today's blog post is not my typical fashion or product advice but something a little more personal. With Easter last Sunday, lent has come to an end. At my church, we celebrate lent, and if you are unfamiliar with lent, then I will explain. Lent is a 40 day period that takes place before Easter. This represents the time when Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. He was there to fast, pray and reflect.

In my Christian tradition, lent is a time to think about God and Christ and to challenge ourselves by making a sacrifice. Most people give up something for lent, like sweets, soft drinks, gossip, or other things. Ideally, this is to help create a healthy habit. Along with this, you can take on a hobby or practice, which is what I did. You might try painting regularly, meditating, or journaling, either way, taking on something new or giving up something old allows you to challenge yourself.

I will be completely honest....I failed at lent.

So, how did I fail? For lent, I decided to take on a task by writing a letter everyday to people I care about and to people who have impacted me in my life. I made it to the 13th day and stopped. Spring Break completely got me off track. However, I will say, during those 13 days, I learned the correct way to write a letter, how to keep a conversation going when the person does not respond immediate, and even the cost of a stamp!

It gave me the time everyday to reflect on how thankful I am for the person I was writing. Are they loving? Are the good at advice? How have they influenced me? How long have I known them? I tried to answer all of these questions in my letters. I included some small things I remember about them and ways they impacted me that they may not even realize.

All of these letters were extremely positive and reminded me just how much the people around me affect my life. My mom, my dad, my family members, Owen, my friends...all of these people have been positive influences on me.

Although I am sad that I did not finish the letters, I still think I will finish them over the course of the next several weeks.

Lent is supposed to include something intentional and meaningful that you can accomplish before Easter. My parents both gave up sweets for lent, and I will say, I was very impressed. They both basically went into a sugar coma on Easter once they could taste sweets again! Most importantly they pushed themselves to do better and create a healthy habit, and now they aren't craving sweets anymore.

Even though I might not have done the best when it comes to covering the whole 40 days of lent, I learned to enjoy writing letters to people who are special to me. I hope I can continue this habit and write more in the future.

Thank you for reading today’s blog, and remember to check back in Friday for more.