40 Days of No Excuses for Not Exercising

I realized yesterday that with Easter being so early this year, Lent starts next week. Now I am the first to admit that I am not a very good Catholic. I don't go to church regularly, I don't agree with a lot of the church teachings, and I feel like there should be a third point to round things out but I don't have one. But I do have faith, whether it fits nicely in with an organized religion or not. Mostly not. And Catholicism is the way I was brought up to express that faith. And I guess whatever failings I might find with the church itself there are still some aspects that I like, there are times of the year that bring back very strong memories associated with being in a church, and there are rituals that are very much a part of who I am.

The first thing I did this morning was pull out the pancake recipe that I found online some weeks ago. Because I am bound and determined that there will be pancakes this Tuesday so I had to make sure I picked up anything I needed at the grocery store. I am not sure why the pancakes are so important to me this year. It's certainly not anything my family has made a regular habit of doing, but I remember last year really wanting pancakes and when I realized it was going to be Lent I really wanted pancakes, therefore pancakes will be had.

Then I started thinking about what I should give up for Lent. Lots of people give up chocolate or fast food or desserts ... but for the most part I am already mostly cutting those out of my life so that didn't work. But this morning at the gym, after more than a week of sloth (meaning no gym/exercise) it hit me. Instead of giving something up I am going to take something on. So starting Wednesday it will be 40 days of No Excuses for Not Exercising. Obviously there may have to be some excuses - if I get injured or viciously ill or have a migraine like I did last Wednesday. But no wimp-ass "I'm tired" or "I worked late" or "I'm in a bad mood". Because you know what? as soon as I get there the exercise takes all those excuses and kicks them to the curb and I am always glad that I made myself go. Getting through the door is 90% of the battle and it is always worth it. For my good health.