Giving Up vs Accepting

I have no idea where to start, but at least this is a start... There is a backlog of items which I have wanted to blog about, so I think I should write today about what I mentioned the last time in the Lenten Meme, about the daily cross vs giving something up for lent.

Put it simply, as Ash Wednesday and Lent approached, people always talk about giving something up for this 40-day period of Lent. My good friend Andrew also had an entry titled 'Why Does God Care'. Naturally, I took, having being brought up in the Catholic faith was taught to 'give up' something for Lent, starting with sweets as a kid, progressing to more heavy stuff as I grew older- Coffee, Going out with friends, Personal Satisfaction, etc... this is of course a good practice and this year as I was contemplating what to give up, it occurred to me...

Why not 'Accept' my daily cross, or at least some burden instead of 'giving up'
something I like? Why not endure something I do not like very much but have to do and learn to accept it with an open heart. Jesus accepted his cross as well, and excuse me, but I do not think He liked it very much nor did He jump for joy when He knew about this. But He still DID IT.

So people get a little confused when they asked me this Lent what I gave up. This Lent, I am just accepting a simple task- to be able to be open to other people, their way of life, their mentalities, idiosyncrasies, shortcomings and to live in peace with my housemates.

This may sound simple, but it certainly is not. Learning to live with things that don't always go my way and be able to smile and say "It's OK" takes a lot of effort. That is my challenge this Lent, I'm not giving up alcohol or smoking or sex (relax, I'm only joking), nor am I giving up chocolates, sweets, or candy. My lenten diet this year is to go to mass as often as possible, to fast on Fridays, to pray my Vespers daily, and just to accept people for who they are and not what they do.

So one final question, is this better than 'giving up' something? Personally, and some people will consider this very liberal, but it's not what you give up that it of the essence (I'm not saying it's not important- think about an old man with diabetes giving up Chocolates, or a baby giving up milk), but what you aim to receive from this act, what your motives are (after all, Lent can be a good time to lose weight), so be it giving up or accepting, it's up to the individuals choice. Oh, and by the way, if you fail, it's OK to re-restart your abstinence once again...

God bless