In God we Trust ~ by Founder Emlyn Lee

Today marks the beginning of Lent, a time of sacrifice to remember God’s unconditional love. Although I am not Catholic, Lutheran, or Methodist (the denominations that typically practice Lent), the least I can do is to sacrifice some of my life’s comfort as a reminder of God's righteousness for 40 days, right?

If you know me or have read my blog from last week, you know that I love to eat, and am a habitual snacker. I am constantly grazing on something throughout the day yet still have an appetite for a full 3-4 course meal. My friends joke that my fridge and pantry are always stocked even though I travel a lot and live alone.

Thus, I am going to give up snacks, desserts, and alcohol for Lent.

Insert evil Smurf sitting on Emlyn’s shoulder whispering…”40 days without snacks? Dessert? Are you kidding me? You just ate a pound bag of Twizzlers in one sitting last week, and you have another bag sitting in the closet. You know that means no in-flight pretzels and peanuts, and you have at least 4 flights lined up next month. And alcohol?!? SxSW is coming to Austin next week! And what about March Madness…you’re not going to have a drink and snack on some wings or nachos? C’mon what about a glass of wine over dinner?...”

Oooh, backspace. You’re right, maybe I should change that to three drinks maximum a week.

Delete.

What am I doing? I’m sticking to it—ALL snacks, desserts, and alcohol. Once this blog is uploaded I’m committed. Accountability is key so if you are reading this please hold me liable to my words. I told my team today of my Lent sacrifices while they were smacking their lips from the Ghiradelli chocolates that I brought back from San Francisco. That’s okay, I’m not flinching. I’ll just step slowly away from the candy bowl.

Accountability is a wonderful means to attain success. For example, I’ve been tracking my daily nutrition and fitness intake on a free on-line web and mobile application via Sparkpeople since the start of this month. Although I have no target weight to lose, it is keeping me accountable for drinking 8 cups of water a day, eat within the recommended calories, and do some sort of physical exercise. (Come join our fitness team to get tips from our intern, Haley, who is also a fitness instructor; and meet other wanderlusts that share the same passion of a healthy world, starting from within.) I know that giving up a lot of my comfort goodies will be hard, I'm kinda dreading it. But isn't life full of challenges?


In God we Trust.