Lent

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent in the Christian faith. I should know what this means since my parents paid an exorbitant amount of money funding my Catholic education, but as any good Catholic, I have no clue. Beginning on Ash Wednesday and lasting for approximately six weeks, Christians give up some sort of luxury as a form of penance to prepare for Christ’s rising. This is a very loose description and I can totally envision my parents face palming themselves. Sorry, Mom and Dad.

So. What I am going to give up for Lent? Looking at my bank account, I can’t afford many luxuries, so my first thought is that I’m not even qualified to give up anything. Let’s go over what I won’t give up. I won’t give up being awesome. God made me this way; I can’t go against His creation. That’s just wrong. I also won’t give up being sarcastic, breathing, eating, showering and blowing my nose. Nope. Not gonna do it.

You know what I would like to give up? Allowing other people’s moods to affect mine.  I have a little something called “Codependency”. In layman’s terms, I am too empathic for my own good. I allow their emotions and behaviors to depict how I feel and it SUCKS! For example, if I am in a good mood, enjoying my day and a Debbie Downer walks in, my mood drops. It’s like that person has the ability to drain any positivity in my life. Or, if some dueschbag cuts me off on the freeway or isn’t aware enough to know that I have my hands full and NEED SOMEONE TO OPEN THE DOOR FOR ME I get mad. Sigh.

For Lent this year, I am giving up relinquishing my mindset to someone else. I am in control of how I feel. I choose to be accountable for my attitude and I will continue to be awesome. Ain’t nobody gonna take that away from me.