so, day 1. new beginnings. let me start off by introducing what im giving up for lent.
i like giving up eating-related habits as it is something that you do everyday so will be reminded of lent several times in the day, and the reasons behind it (check out my who what where why when : the questions about lent post for more thoughts).
in the past, i have given up eating meat (the start to my pescatarianism lifestyle), given up eating dairy (when i successfully, but temporarily, got rid of my acne) and given up using forks to eat (i'm asian so restricted myself to using chopsticks, and i was young so allow me). i feel like preventing these regular activities from happening are also an added bonus when it helps you fit that health kick in.
my first battle
day 1 brought along new challenges with it. firstly, i attended my university student fellowship (@core_thebcec) in the evening and, of course, there were snacks being offered. i happily and confidently declined the crisps but when it got to the grapes (sable grapes as well) i struggled. immediately i felt an inward conflict as to whether or not to accept it - yes it was healthy but no as it was eating between meals. i filtered my conflict down to it being because i hadn't decided for myself what i wanted this lent to be, and i hadn't considered all the factors of what i would allow, or not. in all honesty, i took a single grape and declined the rest but it was at that time when i was reminded of the reason of why i wanted to carry out lent - truthfully, no one was actually going to punish you from breaking your lent because technically, no one would find out.
secondly, another hurdle came around the corner when i got home. i was hungry. not only that, i really wanted something sweet. like so badly, i can't even explain. it was made a whole lot worse as i generally just have a sweet tooth. the first thing that came to mind was to message a group chat with two of my friends just to tell them how much i was struggling. the next thing i knew, my phone was buzzing and my friend was calling me. he told me to just stop and turn away, and convinced me that i didn't really want something sweet. he tried to distract me by asking me questions and talking about other things, before praying for me. that, my friends, is what an accountability partner does. so thanks jelly ;)
through these trials, a song that i feel encouraged by is 'surrounded (fight my battles)' by upperroom. the song is based on two lines of lyrics:
the lyrics remind me that i have the choice on how i want to approach a situation. also, that God is ultimately in control of everything, no matter how much we try to take things into our hands - we need Him. the only thing that i want to strive to be full of, is God.
in terms of my act of generosity for the day, i didn't really end up doing much.
now for the practical side.
1. the recycling bins in my flat were overflowing, majorly. the rubbish no longer fit in the bins but things were just stuffed all around. i decided to do something about it and just take the bins out, quietly, not needing to ask anyone for help necessarily but just maintaining a tidier and nicer flat for everyone :)
2. my friend was feeling unwell, not that i was feeling much better as i'm still recovering from a flu, but i made him some herbal drink and fed him some congee so hopefully he'll get better soon!
3. i had some friends over today, but it wasn't meant to happen. so i have a friend (B) who would've had a long day at uni today (would've because he didn't actually make it to uni in the end) and another friend (A) and i had practically free days. so, i thought it would be really cute if we made dinner for B after a tiring day. to get B to come to my flat, i devised a cunning plan where A asked B if he wanted to accompany him to visit me since i'm ill. good news - B agreed without suspecting a thing! on the way, B called another friend (C) to come along too since B and C are accountability partners. they turned up and i had to revisit them drama lessons to act surprised that they turned up. only until they got to my flat did they realise that we double-bluffed and actually had a cheeky little aldi chicken casserole waiting for them to eat. this definitely made me feel excited and joyful to show generosity.
4. i didn't really commute anywhere since i was mostly room-bound to recover from illness but since i had my friends over, i did try to get off my phone that much more. i would like to consider myself a mostly noticing person anyway but there's no harm in being more observant. so i took up mostly the green option today by getting rid of distractions where possible, and i did do the red option a bit too as i had my phone on flight mode for a period of time (but more cos i was working with a friend and i tend to put my phone on flight mode when i work anyway, so does this class as cheating?)
also, not really a a good deed per se but here's a story about how i combatted another struggle today. so part of my lent is giving up sweet foods between meals right (if you've actually managed to catch up with me still). meanwhile, in my fridge, i still had a lush rocky road cheesecake. i knew that it would not be healthy to have it sitting there as i would know it in my mind and just pose as a distraction. so, i made the brave decision to share it with my friends just to have it finished and know that there is no longer that distraction. you know what they say, when you have a distraction, you need to shun and run not just turn a blind eye on it.
now that's goodnight from me, thanks and God bless,
haynam xox
i am committed to not snack - whether that be eating unhealthy, processed foods in general, or eating between my allocated meal times.
i like giving up eating-related habits as it is something that you do everyday so will be reminded of lent several times in the day, and the reasons behind it (check out my who what where why when : the questions about lent post for more thoughts).
in the past, i have given up eating meat (the start to my pescatarianism lifestyle), given up eating dairy (when i successfully, but temporarily, got rid of my acne) and given up using forks to eat (i'm asian so restricted myself to using chopsticks, and i was young so allow me). i feel like preventing these regular activities from happening are also an added bonus when it helps you fit that health kick in.
my first battle
day 1 brought along new challenges with it. firstly, i attended my university student fellowship (@core_thebcec) in the evening and, of course, there were snacks being offered. i happily and confidently declined the crisps but when it got to the grapes (sable grapes as well) i struggled. immediately i felt an inward conflict as to whether or not to accept it - yes it was healthy but no as it was eating between meals. i filtered my conflict down to it being because i hadn't decided for myself what i wanted this lent to be, and i hadn't considered all the factors of what i would allow, or not. in all honesty, i took a single grape and declined the rest but it was at that time when i was reminded of the reason of why i wanted to carry out lent - truthfully, no one was actually going to punish you from breaking your lent because technically, no one would find out.
secondly, another hurdle came around the corner when i got home. i was hungry. not only that, i really wanted something sweet. like so badly, i can't even explain. it was made a whole lot worse as i generally just have a sweet tooth. the first thing that came to mind was to message a group chat with two of my friends just to tell them how much i was struggling. the next thing i knew, my phone was buzzing and my friend was calling me. he told me to just stop and turn away, and convinced me that i didn't really want something sweet. he tried to distract me by asking me questions and talking about other things, before praying for me. that, my friends, is what an accountability partner does. so thanks jelly ;)
through these trials, a song that i feel encouraged by is 'surrounded (fight my battles)' by upperroom. the song is based on two lines of lyrics:
it may look like i'm surrounded but i'm surrounded by You
this is how i fight my battles
the lyrics remind me that i have the choice on how i want to approach a situation. also, that God is ultimately in control of everything, no matter how much we try to take things into our hands - we need Him. the only thing that i want to strive to be full of, is God.
in terms of my act of generosity for the day, i didn't really end up doing much.
 |
| these were the options for showing generosity today
but i've set myself up for 40 acts now! i completed the yellow option by finding accountability partners and started the 40 acts plan on the bible app together where you read passages and can discuss experiences and thoughts. i've also picked up the red option, clearly, by starting up this whole blog-writing shebang just to share my doses of generosity, and a bonus would be to inspire other people to partake too - though, on a real, i do strongly encourage it, who cares if you're joining halfway :)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - so i'm lowkey cheating now because i'm writing day 1 and day 2 together but i guess i just forgot i had this blog until today really and thought, hey why not write about my 40 acts journey? it'll help me remember how i feel as i live generously, as well as just recording the nice things i've done - nevermind if no one actually reads this. right so day 2. i have managed to be so much more successful today! let's start with the challenges for today:  |
now for the practical side.
1. the recycling bins in my flat were overflowing, majorly. the rubbish no longer fit in the bins but things were just stuffed all around. i decided to do something about it and just take the bins out, quietly, not needing to ask anyone for help necessarily but just maintaining a tidier and nicer flat for everyone :)
2. my friend was feeling unwell, not that i was feeling much better as i'm still recovering from a flu, but i made him some herbal drink and fed him some congee so hopefully he'll get better soon!
3. i had some friends over today, but it wasn't meant to happen. so i have a friend (B) who would've had a long day at uni today (would've because he didn't actually make it to uni in the end) and another friend (A) and i had practically free days. so, i thought it would be really cute if we made dinner for B after a tiring day. to get B to come to my flat, i devised a cunning plan where A asked B if he wanted to accompany him to visit me since i'm ill. good news - B agreed without suspecting a thing! on the way, B called another friend (C) to come along too since B and C are accountability partners. they turned up and i had to revisit them drama lessons to act surprised that they turned up. only until they got to my flat did they realise that we double-bluffed and actually had a cheeky little aldi chicken casserole waiting for them to eat. this definitely made me feel excited and joyful to show generosity.
4. i didn't really commute anywhere since i was mostly room-bound to recover from illness but since i had my friends over, i did try to get off my phone that much more. i would like to consider myself a mostly noticing person anyway but there's no harm in being more observant. so i took up mostly the green option today by getting rid of distractions where possible, and i did do the red option a bit too as i had my phone on flight mode for a period of time (but more cos i was working with a friend and i tend to put my phone on flight mode when i work anyway, so does this class as cheating?)
also, not really a a good deed per se but here's a story about how i combatted another struggle today. so part of my lent is giving up sweet foods between meals right (if you've actually managed to catch up with me still). meanwhile, in my fridge, i still had a lush rocky road cheesecake. i knew that it would not be healthy to have it sitting there as i would know it in my mind and just pose as a distraction. so, i made the brave decision to share it with my friends just to have it finished and know that there is no longer that distraction. you know what they say, when you have a distraction, you need to shun and run not just turn a blind eye on it.
now that's goodnight from me, thanks and God bless,
haynam xox