I didn’t want to have pancakes today because I’m trying to kick the wheat habit that I know isn’t helping the system wide inflammation. So what did I do? I had pancakes.

I could have had potato pancakes, or the kind of yummy shredded carrot and potato and parsnip pancakes that I had one Hanukkah long ago. Still a legitimate pancake, that would have let me feel like I was participating in the Pancake-yness of the day. But I did not. I went, with my gentleman associate, to a local restaurant and ordered pancakes from them. Delicious, delicious pancakes.

Now I have to reset the big “Days since I ate the wheat” poster on the wall back to Zero. Sad trombone. But the thing is, I can start over. I made my choice. And now, I can also choose to eat cleaner for my post-swim snack, or breakfast tomorrow, or dinner on Friday.

The message here isn’t lost on me as I head into my Lent practise. It doesn’t matter how many times you stumble, it matters how many times you get up. Spring cleaning my soul means that I’m going to work on being a more thoughtful, giving, welcoming, grateful, gentle person. It doesn’t mean I’ll *never* want to participate in Throatpunch Thursday as enthusiastically as I do Fat Thursday. It means that I maybe find ways to deal with my whitehotfury before I call someone a C-U-Next-Tuesday. When I eat wheat, I know it’s not good for me. Sometimes, having chicken soup with pastina, or pizza with colleagues, or tea and biscotti with my besties is worth it. And when those treats are done, I can turn away from those things in favour of something better for me. Lent gives me the opportunity to do the same thing. Sometimes, a 22 syllable swear word is what’s required. And then, with whatever frustration burned off, I can return to the journey to a better me.

So, friends, tomorrow we start the main event. Everybody will have a different path to Easter. Some are easier to navigate than others. Some make you bushwack your way through to refind the path. Whatever your journey means, let’s make it a good one.

Extra Credit:

I’ve created landing pages for the last 3 years of Lent Project. You can access them from the Reflections Projects option in the menu bar. Happy reading, friends!