Quaresma

Saturday night I went out with friends and I didn´t drink a drop of alcohol.  I think it might be the first time in many years that I have done that. 

You might be wondering, why? 

Because it´s quaresma time!  Quaresma is a word I just learned in Spanish for ¨lent¨.   No, I´m not Catholic.  I don´t give up things for any religious reasons.  It is more of a personal challenge that I like to do each year.  Most years I give up sweets.  Once, while living in the desert of Perú, I gave up ice cream during the hottest months of the year!  Crazy, I know, but I usually try to give things up that are unhealthy and/or that I have started to eat far too often. 

So yes, this year I chose alcohol and chocolate.  I chose two very challenging things (for me) because last year I didn´t give up anything, and because it all fits in nicely with my general new years resolution to drink less and be healthier. 

Saturday we celebrated the birthday of one friend, and the engagement of another.  It was the first time a large group of us all went out together this year, and it was a fantastic time!  I have to admit, I was nervous about my second non-drinking weekend, and about being around a lot of people tempting me.  So, I made myself coctails of soda water and lime so that I could keep my hand to mouth drinking action up and not feel so deprived.  When we all went out to a club, the entrance charge included a free giant beer!  I had this large cup of beer in my hand for a good 20 minutes without taking a sip, and then managed to hand it off to a friend.  We stayed out until 4am and I remember everything that happened and was so happy dancing and laughing with friends. 

Am I starting to sound like a recovering alcoholic yet?

Chocolate hasn´t been any easier.  I love chocolate.  My passion for this tasty sweet has grown in Perú, where food is not packed with sugar.  This means, Americans arriving in this latin land start having sugar cravings that you wouldn´t believe as your body adjusts to not having corn syrup in every single thing you eat.  While the lack of corn syrup is a very  healthy and positive thing, those sweet cravings are hard to get through sometimes, and my go-to is almost always some sort of chocolate covered raisin, almond, ice cream snack.  An unforeseen side effect of this lack of chocolate for me has been the fact of discovering that I don´t really enjoy other types of sweets.  Hard candies, lolipops, ice cream bars with no chocolate in them are just not for me.  So one of my interesting self-discoveries has been that by giving up chocolate, my intake of sweets in general has also declined. 

Anyway, I like the idea of lent.  After a week long festival known as Carnaval (see previous post), 40 days of reflection and abstinence begin that last until Easter.  These 40 days for me are for challenging myself to do something healthy and positive.  For reflecting on my lifestyle and finding out what really makes me happy. 

... But I´m really looking forward to Easter this year, because I plan on giving myself a ¨me¨ night of gorging myself with chocolate and a bottle of wine. 

Thanks for reading my self reflection for the day!  :) Abrazos.