The year my brother went to Afghanastan, I gave up sweets in support. However, when it came time for Lent, I was at a loss. I’m not Catholic, but I still participate in Lent as a way of trying to tame some of my ‘crutches’. I almost always give up chocolate. It didn’t seem fair to count my current refrain from chocolate, so I decided to give up alcohol. Now, I wasn’t a big drinker, so I thought this would be very easy. NOT!
By the time Lent rolled around, I had been off of chocolate for almost 2 ½ months. After the first few weeks, it had become much easier. However, I didn’t count the sugar in alcohol as a ‘sweet’… I meant candy, cookies, cakes, etc. So, every now and then, I would have a margarita. After all, I have a stressful job, and sometimes, I needed something extra (LOL)… Chocolate is my drug of choice when I’m irritated, but margaritas run a close second. And, I seemed like I was getting irritated a little more often while I wasn’t eating sweets. J
Well let me tell you that by about the second week of Lent, my husband threatened to hold me down and force feed me chocolate or a margarita. Apparently, my attitude wasn’t real peachy. At one point, I remember saying to someone ‘I’m a pre-menopausal woman who hasn’t had chocolate OR alcohol in weeks. DO NOT MESS WITH ME, YOU WILL NOT WIN! I was halfway joking, but apparently, I added a look that made everyone question my intentions! Of course, I wouldn’t have a problem at all if people would just quit making me mad!
As Lent progressed, I received daily threats that I was going to be fed chocolate in my sleep. I apparently had somehow lost the purpose of my sacrifice. Giving up these things was supposed to make me a better person, not worse! I was supposed to turn to God instead of sugar. But, given my current state of “the change’- I was apparently making way too many additional changes at one time. Remember the line from the movie “Airplane’ where Leslie Nielson said ‘I picked a bad day to give up alcohol’? Well, my entire family was apparently living the Airplane nightmare! To this I replied… Well… Life’s tough – Wear a Helmet! I would try to be nicer, and they would have to try to deal with me because I was not going to back down on my promise to my brother, or my commitment to GOD! And I didn’t.
We made it through… barely… My family still loves me, no one was seriously injured, and I learned a few things about myself… But I did have to make a promise to my fam that I would never give up both of these things at the same time again. Menopause definitely requires chocolate OR alcohol. It safe to say that I won’t try this again!
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