I am reminded of the story of a child asking daddy ‘What is that thing that mammy stands on in the bathroom?’ Daddy wondered for a moment and said, ‘Oh, that’s the bathroom scales darling.’ ‘Thanks daddy’, said the child. After a moment she went on, ‘Why does it make mammy say bold words?’
When we put ourselves onto health and fitness programs we put ourselves under pressure to perform to certain expectations. We expect things to change overnight and we get frustrated and angst-ridden if they don’t; if the change doesn’t measure up to our expectations.
Without creating a strategic plan, it’s a good thing to ask ourselves at the beginning of Lent or at the start of a pilgrimage or Camino ‘what are truly trying to gain for ourselves on this journey?’ Sometimes it just needs to be put out there without a plan. One of the greatest contributions to the twentieth century was the twelve-step program. The first step is powerful beyond words; ‘I am powerless over this situation and I hand it over to a power greater than myself. ’That’s enough to begin Lent or any journey with.
Aspire not to have more but to be more. – Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero